Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

David Cloud - Pentecostal Charismatic Movement 01 – Introduction

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

He told all of us young preachers about a question he asked every preacher he met. He asked it of pastors, and missionaries, and evangelists, and mission board directors and college professors, and retired pastors. He asked them all the same question. And he got the same answer every time. If I didn’t know him to be a godly and honest man, I would question his results. I think he told me the truth. The question? It went like this, “In your opinion, what is your greatest failing? What aspect of your life as a Christian is most in need of improvement?” The answer? Time and time again, his preacher friends would search the archives of their hearts and then a look of great solemnity would come over their faces. And they would confess their universal failure, “My greatest shortcoming is my prayer life. That is where I am most inconsistent.” I feel I must add my vote to theirs. Read my Bible? Witness to others? Study God’s Word? Preach the truth? Live a clean life? All of these poll well. But my prayer life? It’s a nice day today, isn’t it?

Say, I wonder how our churches would answer if it were possible to ask them this question? If we could obtain an accurate answer to that question, what would it be? Would it be, “We don’t pray enough. We don’t pray with power. We don’t storm the gates of Hell on our knees. We don’t rattle the gates of Heaven with our prayers. We don’t intercede for our missionaries and bring their burdens to the throne of grace.”

Take the average Wednesday night prayer meeting for an example. We sing too many songs. We read no missionary letters. We preach too long. We listen to a list of Who’s Who In the Hospital. And then Pastor calls on one or two men to pray. And we call it a prayer meeting. For shame. We could be sued for false advertising. Call it Sunday Nite Lite, but don’t call it a prayer meeting.

I suspect that we are not aware of the weakness of our churches’ prayer ministries. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy this wise counsel: ‘I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth‘ (1 Timothy 2:1-4). The apostles knew that prayer is priority! First of all! First of all…pray!

We suppose we pray enough, but we do not. We pretend we are rich and increased in our petitions and have no need of change, and know not the poverty of our prayerlessness. What if we were to add up all the manhours of real praying we do in our churches in one week (or should we call it manminutes?) Would all the prayers offered in all our meetings add up to an hour a week? Two hours? Three, if we speak evangelistically? Charles Spurgeon once advised his students not to pray for more than 15 minutes in the prayer before the sermon. 15 minutes! More like 15 seconds! He once took Moody down to the basement to show him a group of several hundred prayer warriors who met each Sunday to intercede for their pastor WHILE HE PREACHED UPSTAIRS! And what about the old fashioned all night prayer meetings we used to have? Where did that idea ever come from? Ahem, have you ever read Acts 12:5? ‘Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.’ (And when he was set free by the departing angel, he found them all watching State of Origin football in the fellowship hall.) Sure, he did. Prayer was a priority for the churches in the Book of Acts.

No church knows everything there is to know about prayer. But every pastor can implement changes in the prayer life of his church. Like what? Well, we can have men’s prayer breakfasts, and when your men get blest with them, change it to Men’s Prayer Fasts and leave off the food. That’ll sort the men from the boys. And we can set aside enough time between Sunday School and Church to have a time of prayer. And we can meet half an hour before church on Sunday night to pray for the service. And set aside some Wednesday nights to do nothing but pray. And read all the missionary letters and be sure every request gets prayed for. And stop being afraid of what people will think if Pastor kneels with a brother to pray for his needs in the middle of the congregation before or after a service.

In closing, let me share with you a letter I received the other day about the prayers of a brand new Christian. Here’s what his mum relayed to me after talking to him on the phone: ‘… But the thing he was MOST excited about was their all-night prayer meeting on Friday night. The young adults prayed from 10:00pm – 3:00 am. He said he realized for the first time how important it is to pray as the Spirit directs you. He had several things on his list to pray about but could not see how he could have enough to pray about for 5 hours. He said that he just kept thinking of more and more things to pray for and by 3:00am he realized he needed MORE time to pray for all the things that the Lord had brought to his mind. He commented that it was the Holy Spirit directing him to pray for things that he had not previously thought about, things just kept popping into his mind!’

Ah yes, there is hope for the man who prays. And for the church which prays.

First, pray!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

[The first edition of the following article appeared in O Timothy magazine in 1992 under the title “The Other Side of Separation.” We later published an updated edition under the title “Grace and Authority in the Church.” In 1999, we changed the title to “Keys to Fruitful Church Membership,” and this edition is a rewriting and enlargement of the latter.]

A few years ago, I received a letter from a young couple who exhorted me as follows:

“Your book on separation is very good, but you may want to add a caveat that a person must have a better church to separate to before he separates from a church. We were shocked at the liberal doctrines held by the fundamental churches in our city.”

Later they wrote to me and shared with me more detail about these things. Following are specific things that they mentioned:

“(1) Their former pastor did not teach that women should not work outside the home, and the wife of the associate pastor worked. (2) The church held parties or fellowships on Valentines Day, Halloween, and Christmas. (3) The pastor allowed a divorced person to work in the bus ministry. (4) The pastor failed to correct publicly certain erroneous statements which were given during testimony times and certain (supposed) erroneous statements which were made by visiting preachers. (5) The pastor failed to do anything about missionaries who joked and told stories in the pulpit. (6) Though the church took a stand for the KJV, this man did not think there was sufficient teaching on the subject of Bible versions. (7) The pastor “used humor to break the tension” in his preaching, whereas this one felt that sober- mindedness required that such levity in the pulpit cease. (8) The pastor seemed to prefer to let God change people about such things as appearance (long hair, ear rings on men, etc.) rather than approach them directly.”

The couple eventually wrote and said they had “separated” from this fundamental Baptist church and from its pastor “because of his liberal teaching on remarriage, women working outside the home and his refusal to correct error.”

It is natural that in any church we will find things with which we do not agree. To practice Bible separation based on the type of things discussed in this letter, though, is not proper or healthy, in my estimation. These are not matters of “liberalism” or apostasy. These are matters of preference, or, at best, relatively minor issues. Church members must deal with many such things.

While we are to separate from error, we are also exhorted to submit ourselves to pastoral authority and to exercise grace in the church. I believe there are many types of things with which we can disagree in a church while continuing to submit ourselves to God-ordained authority. There does not have to be a contradiction here.

I know of others who have separated from practically all churches because none of them take what they believe is a proper stand in all matters. Many times these are good people who want to stand for the Word of God and who want to contend for the truth in a confused and apostate hour. (Many others, though, are contentious people who simply refuse to submit to God-ordained authority.) I praise the Lord for anyone who has a zeal for the truth in this wicked hour, but I also believe there are some important lessons in the Word of God that can help us deal with the complex matter of church membership.

I believe the following thoughts, which are an enlargement of my original reply to the aforementioned couple, can help us to have a more fruitful attitude toward the assembly in spite of the many problems and imperfections we find there. I have thought and prayed a lot about these things, so please bear with me while I offer seven things we must know and do in order to be a fruitful member of a New Testament church. I think of these things as “keys to fruitful church membership.”

No Ecumenism or Compromise

Let me hasten to say that I am utterly opposed to ecumenism and compromise. I realize that New Evangelicals and ecumenists take some of the things we will deal with in this article and misuse them to excuse their disobedience. They speak much of love and liberty, but they take verses on these subjects out of context and refuse to deal with the enormous amount of material in the Word of God on other subjects, such as separation, rebuking sin and error, apostasy, and discipline.

In this article I intend to deal with grace and liberty and submission to the church, but do not think that I am thereby ignoring the responsibility to stand for truth and righteousness.

Those who know us will not have to be told this, but I say this for the sake of our readers who do not know us. For twenty-six years, we have stood unapologetically for Bible separation. In this instance, though, we are dealing with other equally important matters.

Seven Keys to Fruitful Church Membership

1. We Must Have an Abiding Relationship with Jesus Christ

The first and foremost key to fruitful church membership is a real and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:67-69).

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).

“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).

In order to submit to godly pastoral leadership and to have spiritual discernment to know right from wrong in churches, one must be born again and have the indwelling Spirit of God. Many church members who cause unnecessary problems in the church and who injure the welfare of the church do so because they do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not have spiritual discernment, they walk after the flesh rather than the Spirit, they do not know how to submit to authority, and they do not care how they harm the church, because they are not born again. The Bible warns that God will deal severely with those who harm His churches. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:17). The reason many troublemakers do not fear God’s retribution for their actions in the churches is that they are not saved.

In order to be a fruitful church member year after year, one must not only be saved but he also must abide in Christ. He must walk in fellowship with Christ the Saviour day by day. When we walk with Christ and have our eyes upon Him, we do not become offended at what man does in this world. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165). This is why some church members throw up their hands and quit or become disgruntled and spiritually ineffective when they witness a pastoral failure or some such serious problem in the church, whereas other church members keep on for the Lord in spite of any discouragement that comes their way. They are disappointed when men fail them, but they do not quit or turn aside because their eyes are upon One who never fails!

Abiding in Jesus Christ is the most crucial key to fruitful church membership.

2. We Must Understand the Importance of the Church

Another thing we must understand to be a fruitful church member is that God ordained the church. It is a divine institution and it is the center of God’s work in the world today and is to continue until Jesus returns.

The Bible emphasizes that the church is God’s chosen means of accomplishing His purposes in this age. Even the most cursory study of the New Testament reveals that the church is God’s chosen means of accomplishing His purposes in this age. There are more than 100 references to the church in the New Testament. This shows the emphasis that the Holy Spirit has put upon the church, and the vast majority of those references are unquestionably to the local assembly, not to a general or prospective aspect of the church.

Men have corrupted churches, but the church is God’s plan. The Lord Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18). The church is Christ’s program.

The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:16), and that is a church with elders and elders (1 Timothy 3:1, 8).

Most of the New Testament was written directly to churches. And even those portions not written directly to a particular church refer to the church. The theme of Acts is the planting and multiplication of the first churches. The Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) were written to instruct church planters in their work.

Even the General Epistles, which are not written to particular churches, always have the churches in mind. Hebrews refers to the church in chapters 10 and 13. Hebrews 10:25 exhorts God’s people not to forsake the assembling of themselves together. In Hebrews 13:7 and 17 Christians are exhorted to obey church rulers. The last chapter of James refers to the church. Those who are sick are to call for the “elders of the church.” The final chapter of 1 Peter also refers to the church, in exhorting elders in their duties. John refers to the church in his third epistle, when he mentions the proud Diotrephes. The Book of Revelation, of course, is addressed to the seven churches that existed in that day.

Consider, too, that there is no Bible instruction about the discipline and watch care of Christians apart from the church. There is no instruction about leadership among Christians apart from the church. The entire life and work of God’s people for this age appears in the context of the assembly.

We must also understand what a church is. A proper New Testament church has certain biblical ingredients. It is not merely a group of Christians meeting for prayer and Bible study. Paul wrote to Titus about church work in Crete. The gospel had been preached and there were believers who were meeting together, but that was not sufficient. Paul instructed Titus that certain things were lacking (Titus 1:5). What were those things? The thing that was lacking was proper qualified leadership and biblical organization, and these are the thing that Paul addresses in the book of Titus. The very first thing that Paul instructs Titus about is the ordination of elders. “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee” (Titus 1:5).

We see the same thing in the book of Acts. When Paul and Barnabas raised up groups of believers in various towns, they were careful to “ordain elders in every church” (Acts 14:23).

A proper New Testament church, therefore, is a body of baptized believers who are congregated together under the oversight of qualified and ordained pastor/elders and who are following the pattern of government and accomplishing the work described in the apostolic epistles.

It is clear from Scripture that it is God’s will that every believer be a faithful and fruitful member of a sound New Testament church. That is what we see in Acts 2. Those who were saved on the day of Pentecost “continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42)

If there is not such a church in the area, the establishment of such a church must be the highest priority. A believer should never be content merely to listen to preaching sermons on a cassette player or CD, or to read sermons from a book, or to listen to preaching on the radio or television, or to meet together with a loose-knit group of believers without proper biblical leadership and organization.

The reason I have remained a faithful member of a church for 32 years is not that I have found perfect pastors and perfect churches, but because I know that this is God’s will and anything less would displease Him. It is my understanding of the doctrine of the church that keeps me going in spite of grave imperfections I have found in churches.

3. We Must Understand There is No Perfect Church

Another thing we must understand is that there are no perfect churches. We have mentioned this, but it needs to be emphasized very strongly. It sounds like a simple matter, but it is not. It is something that must be relearned frequently.

Even the early churches founded and pastored by the apostles had problems. In fact, there were very serious problems in many of the early churches. Consider the church at Corinth. The members were carnal and divided. They refused to discipline one of their own although he was living in open fornication with his father’s wife! They were taking each other to court. They were getting drunk during the Lord’s Supper. They were misusing the spiritual gifts. They allowed false teachers to discredit the Apostle Paul. What a church! Yet Paul was thankful for the grace God had given them (1 Corinthians 1:4). The seven churches mentioned in Revelation two and three also had many serious problems, including spiritual coldness, false teachers, and immorality. Two women in the church at Philippi had to be corrected for being antagonistic toward one another (Philippians 4:2). Paul had to rebuke Peter for his hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14). Paul and Barnabas had a contention that was “so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other” (Acts 15:39). Need we go on? There never has been a church that did not have problems, and the simple reason for this is that church members are sinners.

It is not therefore surprising to find many problems in independent Baptist churches today. I have been a part of the independent Baptist movement for more than three decades and have spoken in 450 or more churches across North America and in many other lands, and I have observed the problems firsthand. When I was a young Christian at Bible school, I saw problems that almost devastated me. As I started Bible school training in 1974, I was almost 25 years old, but I was only one year old in the Lord, and I was shocked at many things. Thirty years later, I am still saddened by these same things! These were things such as Sunday School promotionalism which turn the church of Jesus Christ into a carnival; extreme levity at times in the pulpit; little biblical content in some of the preaching; exaltation of men above that which is proper; shallow, manipulative methods of evangelism and an overemphasis on “decisions” and “prayers” rather than repentance and regeneration.

Because of issues like these, I left after the completion of my first year, determined to attend a different school. The Lord gave me no peace over my decision, though, and within a few weeks I returned and completed my studies. In looking back, I am pleased with the Lord’s leading, though I did not understand it very well at the time. The other school that I was looking at was Calvinistic and was part of a group that was well down the path to New Evangelicalism, and I would have faced an entirely different set of problems–problems even more unhealthy to my Christian life than the ones I was trying to flee.

I still believe the aforementioned problems are wrong, and I try to avoid them as much as possible; but I have also learned some things that have helped me, I believe, have a more balanced attitude toward church problems in general.

In spite of the fact that all churches are imperfect, we do not see in Scripture any healthy examples of Christians who disregarded the assembly. In fact, those who separated themselves were considered unregenerate. John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).

4. We Must Exercise Keen Spiritual Discernment, Distinguishing Between the Important and the Less Important

Another key to fruitful church membership is keen spiritual discernment. Notice the following Scriptures:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).

“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14).

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

In Matthew 23:23, the Lord Jesus Christ taught that not all things in the Bible are of equal importance. Some biblical teachings are “weightier” than some others. Everything in the Bible has some importance, but everything is not of equal importance. Knowing the difference between the two requires a thorough knowledge of God’s Word and keen spiritual discernment. This is the lesson of Romans 15:14; 2 Timothy 2:15; and Hebrews 5:12-14. Such discernment comes only through long and diligent study and through exercise of the senses to discern good and evil. Paul told the church at Rome that the reason they were able to admonish one another was because they were full of goodness and filled with knowledge (Romans 15:14).

It is my conviction that the friends who wrote to me that they were separating from that independent Baptist church lacked the maturity to distinguish between the “weighty” matters of biblical truth and those matters that are less significant. Although they lacked such maturity, they felt they had better discernment than even their godly pastor. This happens frequently. In fact, it is a characteristic of young Christians. Someone has wisely stated that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. This is one reason why God forbids a novice to be a church leader (1 Timothy 3:6). The young Christian begins to gain some knowledge of the Bible and the ministry, and suddenly he “knows it all” and tries to straighten out everybody else, blithely ignorant of his own serious shortcomings. This happens frequently to young Christians who are in Bible College. They have some knowledge, but often they don’t have the experience and maturity to use it correctly. If they are not careful with their newly found knowledge and zeal, they can cause more problems than they solve!

Pastors and churches are to be judged by the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 5:21), but church members cannot do this until they first gain the necessary biblical knowledge and discernment required for such judgment. Young Christians need to be extremely cautious and patient about exercising judgment against the pastor. Unless the matter in question is something that is exceedingly plain from the Bible and unless there are mature Christians who can confirm the judgment, it is wise for the immature Christian to the pastor’s greater knowledge and maturity.

One of my evangelist friends differentiates between the “weightier matters” of God’s Word and the less weighty by calling them “fatal” and “non-fatal” teachings. That is a good distinction. It does not mean that the “non-fatal” teachings of God’s Word are of no importance; it simply means they are less important than some other matters.

Some of the “weightier matters” of God’s Word in relation to churches are things such as sound doctrine, the gospel, Christian love, godliness, separation from error, and soul-winning and missions. Some of the less weighty matters are things like the music program (within reason), Sunday School materials, promotions, youth activities (again, within reason), special speakers, and political involvement. Good examples of less weighty matters are the list of eight things mentioned at the beginning of this article: whether or not the church has fellowships at Christmas or jokes being told from the pulpit, etc.

I am not saying that the child of God should ignore Christian rock music or false teaching or unqualified leadership or anything like that. I am not saying we are to be blind to things that are wrong. I am simply saying that not all matters are of equal importance, and we must learn to weigh various issues of church life in order to exercise mature judgment.

We see this in Christ’s judgment of the churches in Revelation 2-3. The problems He rebuked were of a truly serious nature. He did not rebuke a church because of joking in the pulpit; He did not rebuke a church for having a church social on Valentine’s Day or for using recorded music during the specials. I’m not trying to be facetious. I’m not trying to make light of the less important things, but the fact remains that Christ did not treat all church problems with the same degree of seriousness, and we must follow His example. This is exactly what we see in the church epistles. The problems rebuked by the Apostles under inspiration of the Holy Spirit were of a very serious nature. The Church at Corinth was not rebuked for allowing a divorced man to work in the evangelistic ministry, but for drunkenness and immorality and carnal divisions.

5. We Must Understand the Difference Between Conviction and Preference

Another key to fruitful church membership is to understand the difference between conviction and preference. Conviction is based upon a clear teaching of God’s Word. Preference is not. A Christian can have preferences on all sorts of church matters, but he is not at liberty to make his preference a law for others. This is discussed in Romans 14:

“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks” (Romans 14:1-6).

This passage is often misused by ecumenists to support their phony idea of legalism. They claim that it is not right to judge others even in matters of doctrine, but that is nonsense. It is not legalism to cry out against sin, to judge false teachers, to set standards for God’s people based on the clear teaching of the Word of God, to demand that Christians obey the details of the Bible. In Romans 14, the Lord is forbidding us to judge others IN MATTERS THAT ARE NOT CLEARLY TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE. Two examples are given: what we eat and how we respect holy days. These are issues that the New Testament does not address. There are no dietary laws for Christians, and there are no Old Testament holy days that we must keep. These are matters of Christian liberty. I am free to eat meat or not to eat meat, but I am not free to judge others by my conscience in this matter or in any other matter that is not plainly taught in the Scripture.

When the Scripture speaks plainly, we must speak; but when the Scripture has no plain word, we have no authority to speak. In such matters I am free to follow my conscience and the Lord’s leading in all matters for my personal life, but I am not free to make my conscience a law for others in areas of Christian liberty. That is the teaching of Romans 14.

I believe many of the things mentioned earlier in this article fall into this category. There is the matter, for example, of holding fellowships on Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Halloween. Obviously it is wrong to be involved in witchcraft, idolatry, or immorality, but as for the days themselves, they are nothing. The Lord made the days. Why would it be wrong to have a church fellowship on October 31, for example, as long as the church does not promote things associated with evil, such as a haunted house, or similar things connected with ghosts and goblins? If the church tried to incorporate such worldly, evil things into the youth activities, this should be resisted loudly; but if they are simply having a youth activity on or near October 31 in order to reach the unsaved or be a blessing to Christian young people, there is nothing wrong with this. It is strictly a matter of preference. Our church often has a Harvest Fellowship at Halloween time, primarily to provide an activity for to help keep young people away from the wicked things that go on in the world then. I see nothing unscriptural about this.

Likewise, the Lord made February 14. The Lord made romance. If a church wants to have some sort of fellowship on that day, so be it. Don’t get me wrong. I am not giving a blanket endorsement of the world’s holidays. There is much that is evil there. Cupid is connected with a pagan god of lust, and the Christian must avoid every form of immorality; but I don’t believe it is wrong for a church to have a fellowship or some sort of sweetheart banquet at Valentine’s Day for married couples. There doesn’t have to be immorality or lasciviousness involved, and that is what God forbids.

I am convinced there is freedom of conscience in such matters. They are matters of preference. If a person doesn’t want to have any type of get together on such days, he shouldn’t have them. He doesn’t have to participate in something at the church if his conscience will not allow him to do so, but he shouldn’t make his own opinions about these things a law for others when God has made no such laws.

I know some are going to groan when they hear this, but I believe this principle is applicable for certain Christmas practices, as well. We know that the Christmas season has come from Rome and from paganism. I am as opposed to Romanism as anyone. I have written many unpopular books against Rome. Yet while I am sickened at the commercialism and debauchery that characterizes the Christmas holidays on the part of some, I don’t think it is wrong to enjoy some aspects of that season. I am convinced there is Christian liberty in many of these things. Definitely we must not be involved with Santa Claus, which is a combination of a pagan god and a Catholic “saint,” but I believe a person can enjoy the social and family aspects of the season without worshipping false gods or committing sacrilege. I don’t believe in setting up Christmas trees in or having a Santa visit the church, but I don’t think it is wrong to have a nativity play and sing some of the Christmas carols that are Scriptural and otherwise involve one’s self in activities which do not bring dishonor to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me be quick to say that it is important that the church recognize that Christmas is not a biblical celebration of the birth of Christ. We must not try to Christianize paganism. That is the essence of Romanism. The only holy day God has specifically given to the churches is the first day of the week, the resurrection day. This is what we are to focus on, but it is also true that the Bible does speak much about Christ’s birth.

I know this is a delicate subject, and there are strong feelings on all sides. My goal is not to defend Christmas. I am simply talking about one’s attitude toward those things which other people or churches do that I might not agree with, but which are not directly and plainly condemned in the Word of God. I am trying to illustrate this with some concrete things that we face in everyday life.

I don’t expect every reader to agree with me in all of these matters, but I am trying to illustrate that we have liberty in matters not directly addressed in Scripture. The very fact that each of these matters is highly controversial illustrates my point. I must be careful that I am not trying to make my own preference in some issue a law for others.

While we must stand for the Word of God in every detail, we must also be careful that we not take away God-given liberty and hold our own conscience up as a law for others. Anything that is not clearly taught in Scripture falls into this category–whether or not a church uses musical instruments, times and days of services, evangelistic methods, how to conduct children’s ministries. The list is very long. It is a blessing to understand that God has given us much liberty in Christ and that in these matters each Christian and each church is free to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.

6. We Must Understand and Accept Pastoral Authority

Another crucial key in fruitful church membership is a right attitude toward pastoral authority.

“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation” (Hebrews 13:7).

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).

We have looked at the emphasis God has placed on the local church. That emphasis is woven into the very warp and woof of the New Testament and is undeniable. It is God’s will that every Christian be a faithful, fruitful, contributing member of a sound church. That being the case, it is not surprising that we are exhorted to obey those who have the rule over us. The verses quoted above are strong; we are to obey our church leaders. They are not to be dictators; they do not have unlimited authority; they are not to be obeyed unquestioningly; but they ARE rulers. Hebrews uses plain language, and I believe it means exactly what it says. Not all Christians have equal authority in this world. Some are rulers and the others are to obey those rulers.

The pastors of a church have the major responsibility before the Lord for the teachings, practices, and direction of that church.

The Bible warns that the church leaders watch for our souls and that we must not cause them grief for that is unprofitable for us. I believe that this points to the judgment seat of Christ. If I am a grief to my pastor, it will result in grief for me at Christ’s judgment bar. THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION TO THIS, OF COURSE, IS IF THE PASTOR HIMSELF IS NOT OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD OR IS LEADING CONTRARY TO THE WORD OF GOD IN SOME AREA OF HIS MINISTRY AND IS GRIEVED AT ME SIMPLY FOR MY STAND FOR GOD’S WORD. (In the article “Unquestioning Loyalty to Pastoral Leadership Is the Mark of a Cult” I have dealt with the abuse side of pastoral authority. This article is in the Church section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site — http://wayoflife.org/~dcloud).

Thus I must find a church that is following the Word of God, and I must then obey and be a blessing to my leaders in that church; I must support that church in every way possible. That is the will of God for every Christian. The leaders, in turn, will give an account to the Lord for their teaching and decisions. THEY HOLD THE GREATER RESPONSIBILITY, AND I, AS A CHURCH MEMBER, WILL NOT GIVE ACCOUNT FOR EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON IN THE CHURCH.

Obviously, this does not mean we are to close our eyes to false teaching and sin, but it DOES mean that I am not to try to impose my views in all matters upon the church and its leaders. I must remember that I am not the pastor of the church; I therefore don’t have the wisdom, the unction, or the responsibility for that. I must submit to those who are the pastors, and I must allow them to make decisions with which I might not agree, submitting myself because God has told me to do so.

The church member will never find a pastor with whom he agrees 100%. Think about it. This would be impossible. The only one with whom I agree with 100% is myself, and sometimes I disagree with myself! We all know this in theory but the practice of it is often a difficult matter. I must recognize that if I am ever to submit to a pastor, it will be to an imperfect one.

Is it not reasonable to believe that God can guide the man he has placed over the church? Who am I to try to impose my views upon him? I must understand this if I am to learn to get along in a church and to be a fruitful member. God works in this world through our imperfections. This, of necessity, is the way He works in a church.

The friends who wrote to me that they were separating from a fundamental Baptist church said that the pastor holds what they believe to be a weak position on divorce and remarriage. By this, they meant that the pastor allowed a divorced person to work in the bus ministry. The thing to keep in mind is that this is an extremely difficult matter. I take a strong position personally against divorce and remarriage, and I believe we must preach boldly against divorce. I don’t believe a divorced man is qualified to be a pastor or a deacon, but I don’t believe it is wrong for a divorced person to work in the bus ministry. There are difficulties with any position one might take on this issue, and the more perverted our society becomes, and the more fragmented our families become, the more difficult it will be to deal with problems in this area.

The problem with divorce and remarriage is not so much whether a pastor believes divorce is wrong; practically all Fundamentalist pastors believe this. The difficulty comes in how we treat those who are divorced. Do we allow them to join our churches? I know of one Fundamental Bible church that does not allow divorced people to be members. Does the pastor perform the weddings for those who are divorced? If so, under what conditions? Do we allow divorced people to serve in the church? If so, in what capacity? Can they be Sunday School teachers? Can they be ushers? Can they work in the bus ministry? Good churches differ in these matters, and I believe this is an example of something in which a church member can submit to his rulers, leaving it in the hands of the Lord.

The pastors will answer to God about these things, and there are many matters like this. I might disagree with my pastor over his teaching on giving, for example. I know Fundamentalist Christians who don’t believe tithing is for the New Testament. I don’t agree with them, but this is what some believe, and these will disagree with a church that teaches storehouse tithing.

I might disagree with some of the music in my church. Some Christians don’t like any “canned” or recorded background music to be played during the services; others don’t like guitars to be used; others don’t like gospel quartets. In my estimation, none of these things are wrong in themselves; it is the character of the music that is performed that makes such things right or wrong. I have heard some spiritual recorded music, and I have heard some unspiritual recorded music. I have heard guitars used in a spiritual manner as well as in a carnal manner. I have heard spiritual quartets and unspiritual ones. The point is that there is some room for variety in the music program of the church, and I probably will not agree with all of the decisions that are made.

I might disagree over the standards my church has for workers, thinking the standards are too strict, or not strict enough. I might disagree over whether or not a pastor has a TV and whether or not he preaches against this. (We would never encourage someone to stay in a church that has low moral standards for workers and teachers, if they listen to rock music, for example, or wear immodest clothing, and in which the pastor and leaders watched wicked television programming. I am merely saying that my exact standards might not be enforced by the pastors, and that alone does not mean that they are wrong or that I should leave.)

I might disagree with how my church conducts its business meetings. A former home church, for example, doesn’t include women in the business meetings. The women can attend if they choose, but do not make motions or vote. The men conduct the business. Imagine such a thing in this feministic society! I am sure there are many who would not agree with this.

I might disagree with some of the missionaries the church supports.

I might disagree with some of the ways the church finances are used.

I might disagree with the kind of materials that are used in Sunday School, about whether or not promotions are used, about whether or not puppets and such things are used, about whether or not there is a bus ministry, or with the way it is operated.

I might have problems with what is or is not said and done at Christmas, or about how the missions program is conducted. I might not like some of the special speakers that the pastor brings in. I might disagree with my pastor over his involvement or lack of involvement in political and social issues. I might disagree with the pastor regarding his dealings with erring members. He might seem toso patient, too soft, or too harsh.

I’m simply saying that there are many things that we must leave in the hands of the pastors, and this is never an easy matter. In every church I’ve been a member of I’ve disagreed with some things. There is a time to leave a church over things that we believe are wrong, but we must also learn to put many things into the hands of the Lord and do what He has told us to do: submit to the church leadership and be a blessing. The pastors must be the pastors. They will answer for things that I will not answer for, and they have an authority that I do not have. This is not shirking responsibility; it is obedience to the Bible; and it is wisdom and blessing.

7. There Must Always Be Graciousness in Our Judgments

Another crucial key to fruitful church membership is to bathe all of our judgments in love and mercy and graciousness.

“But speaking the truth IN LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort WITH ALL LONGSUFFERING and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2).

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, IN FAITH AND LOVE which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; BUT BE GENTLE UNTO ALL MEN, apt to teach, PATIENT, IN MEEKNESS instructing those that oppose themselves…” (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).

Some of the things mentioned in the letter from the friends who “separated” from the fundamental Baptist church remind me of these verses. God tells us that we must always maintain an attitude of meekness, patience, and compassion when dealing with people about their problems.

The friends mentioned some instances in which their pastor supposedly “failed to correct error in the church.” The examples they gave made me think of the above verses. While it is crucial to stand for the truth and to rebuke sin and error, there is also such a thing as wisdom and patience and caution when dealing with people. You don’t necessarily come down hard and publicly on every problem that arises.

They mentioned the rambling testimony of a new convert. She believed a woman who had recently died went to Heaven because of the peaceful expression on the face of her corpse. That’s a weird testimony, to be sure, but I don’t think it is something the pastor should necessarily have corrected publicly. Lack of graciousness and wisdom can easily turn a slight problem into a very large one.

They mentioned a deacon who testified that “he liked to put God in impossible situations just to see what He will do,” and they seemed shocked that their pastor and the other deacons said “Amen” to this. They said this contradicts Matthew 4:5-7, in which the Lord told the Devil that we are not to tempt God. I don’t think this is the case. The deacon was probably just saying that it is a great thing to be in a situation in which God must do something special to help us, or something to that effect. I read a little ditty in the Maranatha!!! paper a few years ago that said, “When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with difficulty; if it is going to be something very wonderful, He begins with an impossibility!” That is probably the same idea that the deacon was trying to convey. His way of saying it might have left something to be desired, but this is not a serious matter. We must judge such things in a spirit of graciousness and patience, always giving the benefit of the doubt.

They mentioned that the song leader said one night that Satan was the king of this world, and that Christ was not king. They said that since Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King, they felt the title of king is reserved for Christ. That is not so. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, but there are kings many and lords many in this present order of things. Satan is called the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). He is not necessarily spoken of as king of the world, but I do not believe it would be wrong to call him that in light of the verses quoted. He is king in the hearts of lost people. This is a petty matter that requires more graciousness than that which was displayed by the couple who wrote to me.

A pastor has to exercise supernatural wisdom and kindness. This is one reason I have a tremendously high regard for godly, scriptural pastors. They must always walk that fine line between caution, concern, and compromise, between zeal for the truth and patience with the erring. I believe they have the most difficult job in the world. If they make mistakes and fail to do everything exactly as we think they should, we shouldn’t be surprised! We must always season our judgments with grace. Mel Rutter, retired Vice President of Maranatha Baptist Mission, once told me, “Dave, be as firm as the rock in your position for truth, but as sweet as the honey from the rock in your disposition when striving for truth.” That’s good advice, and though I have often fallen very short of practicing this, it is definitely one of the chief goals of my ministry. I want to be a gracious Christian and a gracious preacher. Anything less is unchristlike.

Conclusion

There is much more that could be said, but I will stop here. I must add that I am not giving a blanket recommendation of independent Baptists churches. There are MANY I would not join because of matters I count too serious to overlook. There is immorality in some. Some are New Evangelical in practice. Some use corrupted Bibles. Some remind me more of a carnival than a church. Some appear not to know anything of old-fashioned Bible holiness and separation from the world and have very low or nonexistent standards for dress and entertainment. Some use the world’s music. Some require unquestioning loyalty to the pastor, which the Bible never demands. (The pastor’s authority is limited by the Bible, and he is to be proven in all things — 1 Thessalonians 5:21. Further, he is not a lord; he is a shepherd.)

Please understand, too, that I am not trying to quench anyone’s zeal for doing right. We need more zeal for truth and righteousness, not less. It certainly is not wrong to try to correct perceived problems in our churches, or to talk to the pastor about things with which we disagree. The Bible instructs us to “prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to judge all preaching (1 Corinthians 14:29). There is a ministry of correction that is taught plainly in Scripture, but I did not set out to address that subject in this article. Here, I am merely trying to balance the zeal for correction with some other things that are equally important. I want to be a blessing to the churches. The Bible makes it plain that God wants His work to be done through the church; thus it behooves us to make a supreme effort to submit ourselves to this institution except in matters of clear doctrinal error and moral corruption.

POSTSCRIPT: The people to whom I originally addressed the above information did not receive my counsel. In fact, they cut off all fellowship from me and counted me as their enemy and as a compromiser of the truth. The last I heard about them, they were moving from church to church, becoming increasingly bitter, in search of that ideal congregation. This is very sad, but I have seen almost exactly the same thing happen other times.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

 ”For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29)

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?

I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;

I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.

Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,

Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent

By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.

Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?

Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,

And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.

But thine are whole; can he have followed far

Who hast no wound or scar?

– by Amy Carmichael

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

On Tuesday afternoon, CNN ran an article on its Belief Blog by Catholic priest (sort of) Daniel Helminiak entitled “My Take: What the Bible really says about homosexuality.” The article is amazing for including so many bad arguments in so little space. A quick trip through the piece will show you what I mean. Helminiak’s writing will be in bold and then my response will follow.

“President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage, like blood in the water, has conservative sharks circling for a kill. In a nation that touts separation of religion and government, religious-based arguments command this battle. Lurking beneath anti-gay forays, you inevitably find religion and, above all, the Bible.

We now face religious jingoism, the imposition of personal beliefs on the whole pluralistic society. Worse still, these beliefs are irrational, just a fiction of blind conviction. Nowhere does the Bible actually oppose homosexuality.”

These two paragraphs perfectly depict how many see any Christian opposition to homosexuality or gay marriage. We are undercover (or not!) theocrats trying to impose our personal preferences on the rest of the country. But the charge of legislating our morality is not as simple as it sounds. For starters, the government legislates plenty of morality already-morality about killing, stealing, polluting and a thousand other things we’ve decided are bad for society or just plain wrong. Moreover, the arguments being made in favor of gay marriage are fundamentally about morality. That’s why you hear words like justice, love, and equality. Most gay marriage advocates are making their case based on moral categories, if not religious and biblical.

What’s more, the pro-gay marriage side would like to see the state reject a conjugal view of marriage in favor of a new, heretofore unknown, definition of marriage. And in insisting upon the state’s involvement, they want this new definition to be imposed on all. We may not all have to like gay marriage, but the government will tell us what marriage means whether we like it or not.

More …. http://www.christianpost.com/news/what-the-bible-really-still-says-about-homosexuality-75108/

“In the past 60 years, we have learned more about sex, by far, than in preceding millennia. Is it likely that an ancient people, who thought the male was the basic biological model and the world flat, understood homosexuality as we do today? Could they have even addressed the questions about homosexuality that we grapple with today? Of course not.”

Here we have an example of progressive prejudice, the kind that assumes we have little to learn from the benighted masses who lived long ago. Whether they thought the world was flat has nothing to do with whether ancient people can teach us anything about sexuality. Such a tidbit is thrown in, it seems to me, as a rhetorical cue that these people were as dumb as doorknobs and can’t be trusted. More importantly, Helminiak distances himself from an orthodox understanding of biblical inspiration. Instead of approaching the Scriptures as the word of God, his first step is to position the Bible as a book by ancient people who don’t know all the things we know.

“Hard evidence supports this commonsensical expectation. Taken on its own terms, read in the original languages, placed back into its historical context, the Bible is ho-hum on homosexuality, unless – as with heterosexuality – injustice and abuse are involved.

That, in fact, was the case among the Sodomites (Genesis 19), whose experience is frequently cited by modern anti-gay critics. The Sodomites wanted to rape the visitors whom Lot, the one just man in the city, welcomed in hospitality for the night.

The Bible itself is lucid on the sin of Sodom: pride, lack of concern for the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:48-49); hatred of strangers and cruelty to guests (Wisdom 19:13); arrogance (Sirach/Ecclesiaticus 16:8); evildoing, injustice, oppression of the widow and orphan (Isaiah 1:17); adultery (in those days, the use of another man’s property), and lying (Jeremiah 23:12).

But nowhere are same-sex acts named as the sin of Sodom. That intended gang rape only expressed the greater sin, condemned in the Bible from cover to cover: hatred, injustice, cruelty, lack of concern for others. Hence, Jesus says “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19; Mark 12:31); and “By this will they know you are my disciples” (John 13:35).

How inverted these values have become! In the name of Jesus, evangelicals and Catholic bishops make sex the Christian litmus test and are willing to sacrifice the social safety net in return.”

There is really only one argument in the foregoing paragraphs: the sin of Sodom was about social injustice not about sexual immorality. No doubt, there were many other sins involved, as Helminiak rightly observes. But there is no reason to think homosexuality per se wasn’t also to blame for Sodom’s judgment. For example, Jude 7 states that Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities “indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire.” Even the NRSV, translation of choice for the mainline (and the version Helminiak seems to be using), says “pursued unnatural lust.” Clearly, the sins of Sodom lived in infamy not simply because of violent aggression or the lack of hospitality, but because men pursued sex with other men.

“The longest biblical passage on male-male sex is Romans 1:26-27: “Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another.”

The Greek term para physin has been translated unnatural; it should read atypical or unusual. In the technical sense, yes, the Stoic philosophers did use para physin to mean unnatural, but this term also had a widespread popular meaning. It is this latter meaning that informs Paul’s writing. It carries no ethical condemnation.

Compare the passage on male-male sex to Romans 11:24. There, Paul applies the term para physin to God. God grafted the Gentiles into the Jewish people, a wild branch into a cultivated vine. Not your standard practice! An unusual thing to do – atypical, nothing more. The anti-gay “unnatural” hullabaloo rests on a mistranslation.

Besides, Paul used two other words to describe male-male sex: dishonorable (1:24, 26) and unseemly (1:27). But for Paul, neither carried ethical weight. In 2 Corinthians 6:8 and 11:21, Paul says that even he was held in dishonor – for preaching Christ. Clearly, these words merely indicate social disrepute, not truly unethical behavior.”

This line of reasoning is also common among revisionists. There is little to say in its favor, however, and Helminiak’s argument-that para physin “carries no ethical condemnation”–is particularly weak.

1) He makes the rudimentary error of forgetting that words have a semantic range of meaning. Just because Paul used “against nature” or “dishonorable” in non-ethical settings (sort of), doesn’t mean those words and phrases cannot carry ethical weight in another context. It’s like suggesting that if FDR once said “this soup is terrible” and later said “what the Nazis are doing is terrible” that he couldn’t possibly mean anything more than “what the Nazis did was kind of strange and not my personal preference.”

2) The context in Romans 1 tells us how to understand para physin. Paul has already explained how the unrighteous suppress the truth about God seen in nature and how they exchange the glory of the immortal God for images of created things. In both cases Paul contends that people believe a lie which prevents them from seeing things as they really are (1:25). Then in the very next verse he singles out homosexuality as “contrary to nature.” He is not thinking merely of things that are unusual, but of acts that violate the divine design and the ways things ought to be. For Paul, the biological complementarity of the male-female union is the obvious order of things. A male-male or female-female sexual pairing violates the anatomical and procreative design inherent in the one flesh union of a man and a woman. That Jewish writers of the period used comparable expressions to describe same-sex intercourse only confirms that this is what Paul meant by the construction.

3) Even more obviously, we know Paul considered same-sex intercourse an ethical violation, and not simply something uncommon, because of what he says in the very next sentence. Helminiak conveniently cuts off Paul’s thought halfway through verse 27. Notice what Paul goes on to say: “Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error” (NRSV). When you read the whole verse, Helminiak’s “non-ethical” argument becomes implausible. Paul thought homosexuality not just unusual, but wrong, a sinful error deserving of a “due penalty.”

“In this passage Paul is referring to the ancient Jewish Law: Leviticus 18:22, the “abomination” of a man’s lying with another man. Paul sees male-male sex as an impurity, a taboo, uncleanness – in other words, “abomination.” Introducing this discussion in 1:24, he says so outright: “God gave them up … to impurity.”

But Jesus taught lucidly that Jewish requirements for purity – varied cultural traditions – do not matter before God. What matters is purity of heart.

“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles,” reads Matthew 15. “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

Or again, Jesus taught, “Everyone who looks at a women with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Jesus rejected the purity requirements of the Jewish Law.

In calling it unclean, Paul was not condemning male-male sex. He had terms to express condemnation. Before and after his section on sex, he used truly condemnatory terms: godless, evil, wicked or unjust, not to be done. But he never used ethical terms around that issue of sex.”

Helminiak’s argument seems to be: Paul said homosexuality was an impurity; Jesus set people free from the purity requirements of the Jewish law; therefore, homosexuality is not wrong. This reasoning is so specious that it’s hard to know where to begin. Jesus did recalibrate the purity laws, but Mark 7:19 makes clear that the episode in question was about declaring all foods clean. Jesus was not saying for a second that anything previously called “unclean” or “impure” was now no big deal. Helminiak again connects words in a facile manner, suggesting that because Jesus fulfilled certain aspects of the ceremonial code, now anything described with the language of impurity cannot be condemned. Nine times in his epistles Paul references “impurity” and it is always in the context of vice and immorality (Rom. 1:24; 6:19; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 4:19; 5:3; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 2:3; 4:7). Besides all this, Jesus explicitly lists “sexual immorality” (in the passage Helminiak quotes) as one of the things that defiles a person. The Greek word is porneia which refers to “unlawful sexual intercourse” (BDAG), especially, for the Jew, anything condemned by the Law of Moses.

It is simply not true that Paul, or Jesus for that matter, never considered homosexuality an ethical matter. To cite just one more example: in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10 Paul uses a rare Greek word, arsenokoites, which is a compound from two words found in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Paul thought the prohibition against homosexuality in the Old Testament was still relevant and the sin was still serious.

“As for marriage, again, the Bible is more liberal than we hear today. The Jewish patriarchs had many wives and concubines. David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, and Daniel and the palace master were probably lovers.

The Bible’s Song of Songs is a paean to romantic love with no mention of children or a married couple. Jesus never mentioned same-sex behaviors, although he did heal the “servant” – pais, a Greek term for male lover – of the Roman Centurion.”

These are wild assertions without any corroborating evidence. Whatever one thinks of Leviticus 18 and 20 for today, it’s obvious that the Torah considered homosexual activity an abomination. It’s absurd to think that any ancient Israelite would have any celebrated David or Jonathan or Ruth or Naomi or Daniel if they were homosexual. It is the worst kind of special pleading and reader response to conclude against all exegetical, theological, and historical evidence that any of these Old Testament heroes were gay.

Likewise, there is no evidence to suggest that the centurion’s servant was his lover. The leading New Testament lexicon (BDAG) gives three definitions of pais: a young person, one’s own offspring, one who is in total obedience to another. If the word somehow means “male lover” in the Gospels, we need evidence greater than Helminiak’s bald assertion.

“Paul discouraged marriage because he believed the world would soon end. Still, he encouraged people with sexual needs to marry, and he never linked sex and procreation.

Were God-given reason to prevail, rather than knee-jerk religion, we would not be having a heated debate over gay marriage. “Liberty and justice for all,” marvel at the diversity of creation, welcome for one another: these, alas, are true biblical values.”

The link between sex and procreation did not have to be articulated by Paul because it was already assumed. God’s design from the beginning had been one man and one woman coming together as one flesh. This design is reaffirmed throughout Scripture, not least of all by Jesus (Matt. 19:4-6) and by Paul (Eph. 5:31). An important aspect of this union is the potential blessing of children. The prophet Malachi made clear that procreation is one of the aims of marriage when he said about a husband and wife, “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring” (Mal. 2:15).

None of this proves the case against gay marriage as a government injunction (though that case can be made as well). What careful attention to the Bible does show is that the revisionists do not have a Scriptural leg to stand on. From the first chapter of the Bible to the Law of Moses to the New Testament, there is no hint that homosexuality is acceptable behavior for God’s people and every indication that it is a serious sin.

This is why I appreciate the candor of honest pro-gay advocates like Luke Timothy Johnson:

The task demands intellectual honesty. I have little patience with efforts to make Scripture say something other than what it says, through appeals to linguistic or cultural subtleties. The exegetical situation is straightforward: we know what the text says…I think it important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be holy and good. And what exactly is that authority? We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience thousands of others have witnessed to, which tells us that to claim our own sexual orientation is in fact to accept the way in which God has created us. By so doing, we explicitly reject as well the premises of the scriptural statements condemning homosexuality-namely, that it is a vice freely chosen, a symptom of human corruption, and disobedience to God’s created order.

Of course, I disagree with Johnson’s approach to the authority of Scripture and his liberal deference to experience. But I commend him for acknowledging what should be plain: the Bible really really calls homosexuality a sin. A sin that can be forgiven in Christ like a million other sins, and a sin that can be fought against by the power of the Holy Spirit, but still a sin. That’s what the Bible says. And as the CNN article demonstrates, it takes a lot of contorted creativity to make it say something else.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

By: Dr. Alan Palmer

Denial

How can a Christian, let alone a Christian leader go through mental health issues? Many leaders want to deny that this horrible experience is even happening to them. They go through a period of self –denial, hoping perhaps it will go away. However, there is another form of denial that goes on in ecclesiastical circles when it comes to leaders and depression – denying to others that anything is wrong or trying to hide the condition (all-but impossible!).

The reason for this attempted ‘cover-up’ is that Christians in general and Christian leaders in particular, feel deeply embarrassed, guilty if not mortified about going through a period of burnout or depression. There is a lot of ‘self –blaming’ going on here. Many conduct internal conversations, saying to themselves in a bewildered manner, ‘I have faith, I am trusting in God – I should not feel like this’. Or they add to their angst by feeling that they are letting the church ‘side down’.

Sadly, unthinking and insensitive Christians, church members and even believing friends can unintentionally kick sufferers when they are spiritually and mentally down. These ‘Job’s comforters’ imply that the individual is only in this condition because they do not have ‘enough faith’, or don’t have the ‘right sort’ of faith or haven’t prayed the right kind of prayer. Apparently, there is the belief among some Christians that seeking professional help for mental health issues is a sign of weakness or even an outright statement that one doesn’t believe that God can take care of you. When I was first ill, my doctor sent me to see a Psychiatrist. I happened to mention this to one of the elders of the church where I was serving at the time. It was as if I hadn’t used the ‘P word’ at all. He totally ignored it, and with a rising level of discomfort shifted the conversation to something trivial. That sent me a very powerful message – talking about such stuff is out of bounds!

Also, some Christians question why other believing brothers and sisters would need to be taking antidepressants anyway; suggesting that if you are really trusting in God, then you don’t need pills. My own response to this has been to ask these super-saints, ‘wouldn’t a person suffering from Diabetes take Insulin’?

Some Christians believe that if a person is suffering mental health issues, it is the result of some ‘unconfessed sin’ in their lives, again taking Job’s friends counseling approach!

However, even worse, some imply that the depressed person is in this condition because of ‘satanic’ or ‘demonic’ activity going on in their life! Thus adding a dose of spiritual trauma to the sufferer’s dizzying cocktail of confusion and guilt. Speaking personally, when I was seriously ill with Bi–Polar, I was ‘bush-wacked’ by some well–meaning but misguided Christian friends. They believed that my depression was wholly spiritual in nature, and maybe demonic in origin. Some very zealous folks wanted to pray over me in order to secure my deliverance from the demons causing my depression – whether I wanted to prayed for or not!

With this amount of prejudice about mental health issues still doing the rounds among some Christians – no wonder that Christians in general and Leaders in particular, deny publicly that they have a problem. Who needs that kind of publicity or attention! The tendency for some leaders facing this situation is to become what Jesus termed, a ????????? (hypokrites), – mask wearing ‘play actors’. Not in a deliberately deceptive sense, but in a cover up, self-protecting sense. Some, rightly or wrongly feel judged, disenfranchised and alienated. Who can they really talk to? To the elders, but they are their employers, it could lead to dismissal; not the congregation, they may not understand, they may reject them. Some pastors, feel desperately trapped in a claustrophobic bubble of self – protective loneliness. They could well echo the haunting words of Freddie Mercury when he sung: The Show Must Go On.

More …. http://au.christiantoday.com/article/ministerial-meltdown-part-ii-tell-tale-symptoms-of-ministerial-meltdown-and-burnout/13328.htm

The Show must go on!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
Inside my heart is breaking,
My make-up may be flaking,
But my smile, still, stays on!

I have sometimes found my self singing this refrain – particularly on a Sunday morning. I don’t think I am alone here.

Lightening the load

When Ministers start to feel overwhelmed by the task they have been given, they tend to look for ways to lighten the load. They are like hot-air balloons that need to throw ballast over the side of the basket in order to stay aloft. So they start dumping things overboard, but not necessarily the obvious and external ‘ministerial’ things. The personal things go first. The times of unhurried prayer, reading the bible and other good books, or listening to a favourite CD. Time with husband or wife may well be jettisoned. Quality and unhurried time with children may also be sacrificed. Hobbies that help to ‘re–create’ may also be dumped over the side.

Unhealthy anaesthetics

When some Ministers ‘hit the wall’ in terms of stress they can look for other more sinister ways to take away the pain. They may turn to alcohol as an anaesthetic for their inner hurt, or perhaps turn to smoking or over-eating in an attempt to mask the inner pain of their situation. Some turn to the sexual fantasy-world of pornography as a way to escape the unwelcome realities of ministerial life. Sadly, some deliberately get themselves involved in immoral relationships, often hoping to get caught so that they will be put out of the misery by being ‘forced’ to leave the pastoral ministry.

Hydroplaning

One writer states that when over stretched and stressed some Ministers may start to ‘hydroplane’ over important parts of their life. This ‘numbness in their souls’ causes them to avoid areas which are emotionally demanding. They tend to skim over problems that need to be attended to; to put ‘band aids’ over problems instead of facing up to them and sorting them out. Sadly, when the ministerial parent is under stress children can be seen as ‘just another problem’ to deal with. They can then be easily slotted into this ‘quick fix’ – sticking plaster category. When Ministers go through stress and depression they only not the only ones who suffer, their families do too. Adrian Plass’ insightful poem, The Real Problem comes uncomfortably close to the real situation in some Christian leader’s homes. Plass says that he wrote it from the child’s point of view. It’s worth quoting in full, I grimaced a lot as I read it myself!

Sunday is a funny day,
It starts with lots of noise,
Mummy rushes round with socks,
And daddy shouts, ‘You boys’

They really love each other,
I think they really do,
I think the people in the church
Would help them – if they knew.

I have to admit that there were times in my family when this poem fitted what was happening almost exactly.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

We seem to be in an age of increasing government mandates that strike at the very core of the freedom of religion. The HHS Mandate in just one example of government mandates that disregard freedom of religion. The latest example comes from Hutchinson, Kansas, a small town northwest of Wichita. If the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission has its way, churches will be mandated to rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.

More …. http://blogs.christianpost.com/liberty/churches-in-kansas-may-be-mandated-to-rent-their-facilities-for-same-sex-marriage-ceremonies-9855/

It started back in November, 2011, when a group called the Kansas Equality Commission asked Hutchinson to add the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to its non-discrimination ordinance. The Mayor asked the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission to study the idea and report back to the town within 90 days on its findings. The Human Relations Commission did study the issue and is recommending that the terms be added to the non-discrimination ordinance. In the process, it put together a document entitled an FAQ sheet. The sheet describes the practical effect of what would happen if these terms are added to the ordinance.

Some of the more chilling aspects of the change include requiring employers and places of public accommodation to allow people to use whatever restroom fits their “gender identity” at the time. The proposed changes define “gender identity” as “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.” What this means is that an employer or a business owner must allow a male to use the women’s restroom if he has the “appearance” or expresses the “behavior” of a female.

But the proposed change to the ordinance doesn’t stop there. In the FAQ sheet, the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission states, “For example, if a church has a parish hall that they rent out to the general public, they could not discriminate against a gay couple who want to rent the building for a party. If the church only rents the building to their parishioners, they can continue to do so.” The proposed change in the ordinance would mandate the churches rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies or homosexual-themed parties.

Let me state this very simply – if this proposed change happens to the Hutchinson ordinance, mandating that churches rent their facilities out to people or groups that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs is patently unconstitutional. And ADF would represent any church that is faced with such overreach and unconstitutional mandate by the government.

There is a battle raging between sexual liberty and religious freedom and there are those in our government who believe that in this conflict, religious freedom should always lose. The Church must remain vigilant and stand to protect the right for it to live according to its religious beliefs. It is unconstitutional for Hutchinson or any government to mandate conduct that forces a church to act in violation of its religious beliefs. We hope that Hutchinson will see that the Constitution already mandates religious freedom and that mandate trumps the one they are proposing.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

Dozens of faculty and staff at a Georgian Christian academic institute are resigning over a statement from school officials in which employees must pledge to refrain from activities including drug use, alcohol, adultery, and homosexuality.

More …. http://www.christianpost.com/news/faculty-refuse-to-sign-lifestyle-statement-resign-from-christian-university-75001/

Known as the “personal lifestyle statement,” around 50 members of the faculty and staff at Shorter University based in Rome, Ga., have chosen to resign rather than renew their contracts at the private school.

Dr. J. Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, which Shorter is a part of, told The Christian Post that the “lifestyle statement” is consistent with the convention’s position.

“We have not taken a specific position related to the ‘lifestyle statement,’” said White, “but the history of our convention, which goes back to 1822, has approved many resolutions regarding homosexuality as a sin and alcohol use as ill-advised.”

Despite the outcry from some faculty and staff regarding the statement, White did not believe the measure would be overturned.

“I do not believe there will be any changes in the ‘lifestyle statement’ due to people who are opposed to it,” said White. “I think that at any educational institution the faculty and the administration are responsible for following the guidelines set by the board of trustees who provide this whole governance for the university.”

Like us on Facebook

Last October, the board of trustees at Shorter adopted a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” for all its employees. According to the document, which faculty and staff were obliged to sign, an employee of Shorter could not among other things take part in drug use, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.

The statement also called for Shorter employees to be active members of a church and be “committed Bible believing Christians.” During that same session, the board also approved a new motto for Shorter, “Transforming lives through Christ.”

“We love Jesus Christ, and we want people who serve here to love Jesus Christ and be willing to not just sign the document, but enthusiastically endorse that in every aspect of their lives,” said Shorter President Donald Dowless in an earlier interview with CP.

“We are an institution that wants to foster a Christian environment … and that’s done by all employees who we hire, not just the faculty but also the staff.”

According to Inside Higher Ed, a leading factor in the creation of the “lifestyle statement” was due to the growing influence of the Georgia Baptist Convention since 2005. In 2008, Shorter joined the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, a group of over a hundred evangelical colleges, many of which restrict their hiring to evangelical Christians.

“The integration of faith and learning within a Christian community is a foundational part of Shorter College’s strategic planning efforts,” said then President of Shorter Dr. Harold Newman in a statement.

“As part of those efforts, we are committed to seeking out partnerships with sister educational institutions and with organizations that share our two-fold commitment to academic excellence and spiritual integrity.”

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

Eric Weathers was just trying to answer a few of his coworker’s questions about the Bible. But the Chicago FedEx employee’s boss told him that discussions about religion and politics were “forbidden in the workplace.”

When the boss refused to tell Weathers why, the Christian employee asked a human resources representative for an explanation. The response: His speech was an “act detrimental to the company”—a designation given to sexual harassment, possession of illegal drugs or weapons in the workplace, theft, workplace violence and other egregious acts.

More …. http://www.charismanews.com/us/33414-fedex-employee-vindicated-in-religious-discrimination-suit

Then, in a reported act of hypocrisy, Weathers’ boss engaged in religious speech two weeks after she banned him from discussing the Bible. The supervisor first ordered him to define the term atheism and later sent him an email stating, “The man upstairs is watching…” The e-mail included a picture of a Baptist church marquee that stated, “God has seen your [business report] numbers. You’re going to hell!”

In response to the workplace persecution, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a case against FedEx on Weathers’ behalf. Weathers won the case.

U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang denied FedEx’s motion for summary judgment in January after finding “enough evidence … for a reasonable jury to find that Weathers suffered the requisite significant negative alteration in the workplace” to constitute an “adverse employment action” as a result of FedEx’s failure to accommodate his religion.

“Weathers’ superiors told him that he could not discuss religion, even if asked, and he was told that he must affirmatively misrepresent his college degree,” wrote Judge Chang. Weathers holds a bachelor’s degree in Bible and youth ministry from The Master’s College, and is pursuing his Master’s of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary.

“FedEx supervisors tied Weathers’ hands (more precisely, his tongue) on a topic of great importance to him, and did not bother to respond to his request for an accommodation,” Chang wrote. “Title VII’s definitional section provides that a failure to accommodate a religious practice is indeed a form of discrimination based on religion.”

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

One of my favorite architectural visionaries is Nehemiah. What an example he is to the men of God in our generation! His heart was broken by the desperate situation of his nation. His calling was to build among the remnant. Most of his building material was rubble. His ministry depended on his prayer life and his knowledge of the Word of God. He faced strong criticism and opposition from his neighbors. He was beset by discouragement, ridicule, ecumenism, compromise, and indifference. But he had a vision from God. And he had a few willing workers who caught his vision and made it an historical reality.

A dear old pastor friend who is in Heaven once told us of a conversation he had with the boss of a demolition crew. Brother John asked him how much skill was needed to demolish a building. The expert said, “Not much. Anybody can tear things down.”

Brother John then asked him, “If you were to build the building you just knocked down, how much skill would be required?”

The builder replied, “Well, that’s a different story. If we built this building we would need men with a lot of skill.”

There are demolition experts around today who tear down the work of the Lord. Some are in the ministry. Some just warm the pew. Some are hit and run experts. Some, like Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, stand off at a distance and, using the catapults of their hatred, they sling their bitter words against the walls of God’s work. Ah, but men with a true vision actively build up the work of the Lord.

It is the example of Nehemiah that provokes me to examine his toolbox. Nehemiah’s tools are the perfect tools for men of vision.

Nehemiah’s first tool was his soft heart for the things of God. He was moved by the plight of his people.

His second tool was his knowledge of God’s Word. Almost every phrase of his prayer in chapter 1 is a direct quote from Holy Scripture. He knew his Bible by heart.

His third tool was his prayer life. He knew to pray first. He knew to pray much. He knew to pray desperately. He knew to pray urgently. He knew to pray in every situation. He knew to pray scripturally. (Now that’s a power tool!)

His fourth tool was his submission to authority. He had learned that, in order to be IN authority, he had to be UNDER authority.

His fifth tool was his calling to make the vision of God a reality. He had the divine blueprint, knew how to read it, and was committed to bring the walls and gates to completion.

His sixth tool was his conviction that God’s work is to be done by God’s people God’s way. The Samaritans need not apply. Their ecumenical appeals fell on deaf ears. Tobiah was not welcome in the Temple. Intermarriage with pagans was not tolerated.

There is one more tool I see in Nehemiah’s toolbox, and that is his wisdom. It is the double-handed wisdom found in Nehemiah 4:17. Every one of his laborers had a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. The vision is never accomplished without the trowel, but the trowel will be smitten from our hand if it is not defended with?the sword. What an unusual combination of tools! Both are sharp-edged, but one is for mortar and one is for keeping the enemies at bay. The enemies stood afar off and gnashed their teeth in frustration as they observed the two-handed wisdom of Nehemiah.

This is a most solemn lesson for the Lord’s builders in our generation. If we lay down the Sword, if we cease to oppose the ancient heresies in modern guise, if we are no longer set for the defense of the gospel (Philippians 1:17), if our hearts shrink from the polemic epistles and the solemn warnings of the Captain of our salvation, if the Sword is dulled by being immersed in reformed theology, or if it is softened to putty in a new evangelical scabbard, then all the other tools will be stolen from us and the vision will fail. It is the Sword that holds the Enemy at bay while the trowel does its work!

Let us remember that all the business manuals written by all the church growth gurus can never replace the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God! The Sword and the trowel! Set for the defense of the Gospel! Militant Truth! Error exposed and opposed without fear or favor!

When the Sword is militant, the trowel is triumphant! We can only build in proportion as we battle!

One of Winston Churchill’s quotes is a very fitting description of the churches of our day that have traded in their swords. He said, “They (the pre-war nations) go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, (and) all powerful for impotence.” So it is with the churches that are no longer militant for truth, no longer set for the defense of the Gospel, no longer holding the Sword in one hand and the trowel in the other.

The Sword defends our right to use the trowel and fulfill the vision of building for God.

The Sword defends the trowel!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

One thing about Brother Joe that puzzled me was the way he would quote preachers or commentators without telling us their names. He would say something like this: “A dear brother in the Lord once wrote…”, or he would say, “A godly old commentator once observed this about our text…”. I can’t ever remember him telling us who he was quoting. Later on, as I became a bit more familiar with writers and preachers I would stumble across the quotes he used and wonder why he never told us who said them. They were not heretics, nor were they involved in entangling and compromising alliances. They were men like Harry Ironside or A.W. Tozer or Harry Rimmer. But he never told us who he was quoting. Oh, he made it clear that the quotes were not his. He was never guilty of plagiarizing. He just didn’t tell us who he quoted.

It was through his wise and discreet use of truth that I learned an important lesson on worship. Brother Joe avoided name dropping because he sincerely desired for God and God alone to have all the glory. He very carefully and wisely used the truths that fell from the lips and pens of godly men, and he did so in ways that directed the worship of his hearers away from those men and toward God.

As the years passed I heard of God’s blessing on Brother Joe’s ministry, of the people who loved him and asked him to preach in their Bible conferences and churches and colleges, but it wasn’t Brother Joe who told me about it. He simply had no desire for the praise of men. Certainly, we should thank God for those He uses, and thank them in person, but the crowns can wait till the judgment seat. Brother Joe simply desired that men should praise God, and Him alone.

Giving praise to men is a very subtle form of hero worship. God has spoken ever so clearly on the subject of who is worthy to be worshiped. We all swim in a sea of pagan, materialistic, hedonistic, sensual, and rationalistic culture. Our culture genders in us visual, auditory, and olfactory failures. We do not see that we are worshiping idols. We do not hear the warnings of God’s words, and we are totally unaware that swimming in our culture leaves us smelling like dead fish. Every culture thrives on the praise of men. Name dropping is the name of the game, in the world and in the church. “Dr. Flutesnoot said this,” and, “Rabbi(t) Warren said that,” and “The gospel according to Jack is this…”. I attended a conference some time ago in which the main speaker could hardly finish a sentence without dropping the name of some well known Christian leader who is his friend, or dropping the name of some famous church or college he had preached in. I got the impression that we were all expected to say, ‘Oh! Do you know him?’ and ‘Wow!, did you get to preach there?’ We just love to drop names, don’t we?

Why do we do this? Do we really believe that the gospel of Christ is enhanced by someone who has attained to celebrity status in our stagnant little cultural puddle? Does God need the endorsement of a mega-church guru or a super salesman soul-winner? Will it count for eternity and for the glory of God that you or I were feted by the ringmaster of the religious circus that he calls a church? Or that you had a 30 second revival meeting with the pastor who jumped a Sunday School bus over a dozen tricycles? All our glorying in man is idolatrous and an abomination in the sight of God. It doesn’t really matter whose signature is at the bottom of your Bible college diploma. It doesn’t really matter whose endorsement is on the back of your book. What has eternal value is whether we have gathered up all the glory and praise we can find and given every bit of it to God.

Consider a few of the Scriptures that speak of the worship of God:

‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth’ – John 4:24.

‘I am the LORD,’ that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images’ – Isaiah 42:8.

‘For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory to another’ – Isaiah 48:11.

One last thought, whether we realize it or not, our praise of man tends to have a hidden agenda. We tend to praise men so that they will praise us back. There is in every one of us enough Devil to crave the praise of men. And so we give it to get it. We need to read John 5:44: ‘How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?’ Our craving for recognition, for praise, for honor and glory, according to our Savior, isan impediment to faith. ‘How can ye believe who receive honour one of another……..?’

One of my favorite evangelists lived to the ripe old age of 87 years. He preached for over 70 years and is sometimes described as the ‘best loved evangelist of all time.’ When he was very old it was decided by his friends that he should be honoured publicly. Many were invited to come and give testimonials as to his usefulness in the Lord’s work, and they came in droves. One speaker after another sang the praises of the old preacher until finally the speeches were done, and the moderator turned to invite the aged preacher to the lectern to receive the award. To everyone’s surprise he was nowhere to be found. The guest of honour was not on the platform, or even  in the building. He had absented himself some time during the meeting and chosen to turn a deaf ear to the sweet words from his admirers! They searched high and low, and eventually they found him, outside the great hall, in the street, speaking to a cabbie about his soul. He knew all about the priorities of godliness and he knew about the emptiness of the praise of men.

Only God is worthy of worship!

Someone may ask, ‘Who was Brother Joe?’

I don’t think he would want me to tell you.

We could be guilty of stealing from God the glory that belongs only to Him.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

QUESTION: Why do you not accept evolution, since it is widely held among scientists today?

DAMADIAN: The way I would answer that is because there is no evidence for it. The known scientific evidence contradict it.

QUESTION: Do you know other scientists who reject evolution?

DAMADIAN: Oh, many. In fact, my general impression is that among the scientists in America the rejection of evolution is growing very rapidly. Today there is a massive amount of material that has been written by scientists against evolution. There are many textbooks written by scientists that challenge evolution for its lack of scientific evidence. One of my favorite quotes in this context is that of Sir Fred Hoyle, the British astronomer, who said to the effect that if you can believe that the human body originated from an antique life form such as slime mold entirely by chance, you should have no trouble believing that a hurricane blowing through a junkyard will yield a 747 passenger jet.

QUESTION: What message would you like to convey to young people growing up in church today?

DAMADIAN: I would like for them to understand that there is no scientific evidence for evolution, that evolution is science fiction, and that the real science is what Genesis describes. Genesis is the only characterization of origins that is consistent with all of the scientific evidence that we have.

QUESTION: What would you consider the most important thing in your life to be?

DAMADIAN: The belief and understanding that Jesus is exactly who He said He is, that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died and was crucified, and that He indeed was resurrected. And with that understanding there is nothing else to say, because Jesus says Himself as the Son of God He was there at the beginning and was there at the genesis of Creation.

QUESTION: What do you consider to be the most important book in your life?

DAMADIAN: The most important book is not even debatable; it is the Bible. The source of wisdom and understanding of all of that we experience and all that we know comes from the Bible. And the more that you study it and the more that you read it the more you advance your wisdom and understanding which is fundamental to everything that you do, and your future.

QUESTION: How can you be sure of going to heaven?

DAMADIAN: In John 3:3, Jesus makes this unequivocal. Jesus said, Except that a man be born again he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And John 3:16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

One of the chief arguments that people use against God is that He allegedly hasn’t given enough light to mankind. It is common to charge God with culpability because millions of people today have not heard the gospel of Christ and because of those who died in past times without having heard the gospel.

The fact is that God has zero culpability in this. He has given light and those who respond to the light receive more light.

The Bible says that God gives light to every man (John 1:9).

In the epistle to the church at Rome, Paul explained that God has given three types of light to mankind. (1) He has given the light of creation that we might know that there is a wise and powerful God (Romans 1:20). (2) He has given the light of conscience that we can know that there is a moral God (Romans 2:14-16). (3) He has given the light of prophecy and Scripture that we might know who this God is and might have a personal relationship with Him (Romans 3:1-2).

God has raised up prophets to the nations from the time of Abel to the present. “God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), but God’s messengers have been ignored, ridiculed, persecuted, killed far more often than they have been honored and believed.

In the days of Solomon the kings of the earth heard the prophetic wisdom God had given him (1 Kings 4:34).

Jesus commanded His disciples to carry the gospel to every nation, and even by the end of the first century it was already preached in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The whole Bible has been translated into every major language and portions thereof into more than 2,000 other languages.

The nations have heard, but they have not listened.

The nations will be condemned by the likes of the Ethiopian eunuch, the treasurer of that nation, who obtained a copy of the prophet Isaiah and sought Philip’s assistance in understanding it (Acts 8:26-39). When a man sincerely tries to comprehend the light he has, God will send him a Philip. God requires that men seek after Him, and promises to be found of those who do (Acts 17:26-27; Jeremiah 29:13; Luke 11:9; Hebrews 11:6).

It is not God’s fault that most people sit in darkness today.

Jesus said that men are condemned already by rejecting the light that they have (John 3:18-20).

“The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD” (Proverbs 19:3).

THE STORY OF MOSES is one of the most beautiful and fascinating in all the world.  It takes a hold on us and never for an instant does it lose its interest, for it is so graphically told that once heard it is never forgotten.

I have often imagined the anxiety with which that child was born, for he came into the world with the sentence of death lagging over him, for Pharaoh had decreed that the male children should die, and the mother defied even the command of the king, and determined that the child should live, and right from the beginning the battle of right against might was fought at the cradle.

Moses’ mother was a slave.  She had to work in the brick yards or labor in the field, but God was on her side and she won, as the mother always wins with God on her side.  Before going to work she had to choose some hiding place for her child, and she put his little sister, Miriam, on guard while she kept herself from being seen by the soldiers of Pharaoh, who were seeking everywhere to murder the Jewish male children.

For three months she kept him hidden, possibly finding a new hiding place every few days.  It is hard to imagine anything more difficult than to hide a healthy, growing baby, and he was hidden for three months.

Now he was grown larger and more full of life and a more secure hiding place had to be found, and I can imagine this mother giving up her rest and sleep to prepare an ark for the saving of her child.

I believe the plan must have been formulated in Heaven.  I have often thought God must have been as much interested in that work as was the mother of Moses, for you can’t make me believe that an event so important as that and so far-reaching in its results ever happened by luck or by chance.

Possibly God whispered the plan to the mother when she went to Him in prayer and in her grief because she was afraid the sword of Pharaoh would murder her child.  And how carefully the material out of which the ark was made had to be selected!

I think every twig was carefully scrutinized in order that nothing poor might get into its composition, and in the weaving of that ark, the mother’s heart, her soul, her prayers, her tears, were interwoven. Oh, if you mothers would exercise as much care over the company your children keep, over the books they read and the places they go, there would not be so many girls feeding the red light district, nor so many boys growing up to bad, criminal lives.

And with what thanksgiving she must have poured out her heart when at last the work was done and the ark was ready to carry its precious cargo, more precious than if it was to hold the crown jewels of Egypt.  And I can imagine the last night that baby was in the home.

Probably some of you can remember when the last night came when baby was alive; you can remember the last night the coffin stayed, and the next day the pallbearers and the hearse came.  The others may have slept soundly, but there was no sleep for you, and I can imagine there was no sleep for Moses’ mother.

There are whips and tops and pieces of string

And shoes that no little feet ever wear -

There are bits of ribbon and broken wings

And tresses of golden hair,

There are dainty jackets that never are worn,

There are toys and models of ships;

There are books and pictures all faded and torn,

And marked by finger tips

Of dimpled hands that have fallen to dust -

Yet we strive to think that the Lord is just.

Yet a feeling of bitterness fills our souls;

Sometimes we try to pray,

That the reaper has spared so many flowers

And taken ours away.

And we sometimes doubt if the Lord can know

How our riven hearts did love them so.

But we think of our dear ones dead,

Our children who never grow old,

And how they are waiting and watching for us

In the city with streets of gold.

And how they are safe through all the years

From sickness and want and war.

We thank the great God, with falling tears,

For the things in the cabinet drawer.

Others in the house might have slept, but not a moment could she spare of the precious time allotted her with her little one, and all through the night she must have prayed that God would shield and protect her baby and bless the work she had done and the step she was about to take.

Some people often say to me: “I wonder what the angels do: how they employ their time?” I think I know what some of them did that night. You bet they were not out to some bridge whist party.  They guarded that house so carefully that not a soldier of old Pharaoh ever crossed the threshold.  They saw to it that not one of them harmed that baby.

At dawn the mother must have kissed him goodbye, placed him in the ark and hid him among the reeds and rushes, and with an itching heart and tear dimmed eyes she turned back again to the field and back to the brick yards to labor, and wait to see what God will do.

She had done her prayerful best, and when you have done that you can bank on it that God will not fail you.  How easy it is for God to give the needed help, no matter how hopeless it might seem, if we only believe that with God all things are possible, no matter how improbable.

What unexpected answers the Lord would give to our prayers!  She knew God would help her some way, but I don’t think she ever dreamed that God would help her by sending Pharaoh’s daughter to care for the child; but it was no harder for God to send the princess than it was to get the mother to prepare the ark.  What was impossible from her standpoint was easy for God. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the water to bathe, and the ark was discovered, just as God wanted it to be, and one of her maids was sent to fetch it.  You often wonder what the angels are doing.  I think some of the angels herded the crocodiles on the other side of the Nile to keep them from finding Moses and eating him up.

You can bank on it all Heaven was interested to see that not one hair of that baby’s head was injured. There weren’t devils enough in Hell to pull one hair out of its head.  You may he sure the angels were not out to some bridge whist party then.  God had something for them to do.

The ark was brought, and with feminine curiosity the daughter of Pharaoh had to look into it to see what was there, and when they removed the cover there was lying a strong, healthy baby boy, kicking up its heels and sucking its thumbs, as probably most of us did when we were boys, and probably as you did when you were a girl.

The baby looks up and weeps, and those tears blotted out all that was against it and gave it a chance for its life.  I don’t know, but I think an angel stood there and pinched it to make it cry, for it cried at the right time. Just as God plans, God always does things at the right time.  Give God a chance – I he may be a little slow at times, but He will always get around in time.

The tears of that baby were the jewels with which Israel was ransomed from Egyptian bondage.  The princess had a woman’s heart, and when a woman’s heart and a baby’s tears meet, something happens that gives the devil cold feet.  Perhaps the princess had a baby that had died, and the sight of Moses may have torn the wound open and made it bleed afresh. But she had a woman’s heart, and that made her forget she was the daughter of Pharaoh and she was determined to give protection to that baby.

Faithful Miriam (the Lord be praised for Miriam) saw the heart of the princess reflected in her face. Miriam had studied faces so much that she could read the princess’ heart as plainly as if written in an open book, and she said to her: “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” and the princess said, “Go.”

I see her little feet and legs fly as she runs down the hot, dusty road, and her mother must have seen her coming a mile away, and she ran to meet her own baby put back into her arms and she was being paid Egyptian gold to take care of her own baby.

See how the Lord does things.  “Now, you take this child and nurse it for me and I will pay you your wages.” It was a joke on Pharaoh’s daughter, paying Moses’ mother for doing what she wanted to do more than anything else – nurse her own baby.

How quickly the mother was paid for these long hours of anxiety and alarm and grief, and if the angels know what is going on what a hilarious time there must have been in Heaven when they saw Moses and Miriam back at home under the protection of the daughter of Pharaoh.  I imagine she dropped on her knees and poured out her heart to God, who had helped her so gloriously. She must have said: “Well, Lord, I knew you would help me.  I knew you would take care of my baby when I made the ark and put him in it and put it in the water, but I never dreamed that You would put him back into my arms to take care of, so I would not have to work and slave in the field and make back and be tortured almost to death by fear that the soldiers of Pharaoh would find my baby and kill him.

“I never thought you would soften the stony heart of Pharaoh and make him pay me for what I would rather do than anything else in this world.” I expect to meet Moses’ mother in Heaven, and I am going to ask her how much old Pharaoh had to pay her for the job.  I think that’s one of the best jokes, that old sinner having to pay the mother to take care of her own baby.  But, I tell you, if you give God a chance, He will fill your heart to overflowing.  Just give him a chance.

This mother had remarkable pluck.  Everything was against her, but she would not give up.  Her heart never failed.  She made as brave a fight as any man ever made at the sound of cannon or the roar of musketry. Mothers are always brave when the safety of their children is concerned.

This incident happened out west last summer. A mother was working in a garden and the little one was playing.  The mother heard the child       sitting under a tree in the yard scream; she ran, and a huge snake was wrapping its coils about the baby, and as its head swung around, she leaped and grabbed it by the neck and tore it from her baby and hurled it against a tree.  She is always brave when the safety of her children is concerned.

Fathers often give up.  The old man often goes to boozing, becomes dissipated, takes a dose of poison and commits suicide; but the mother will stand by the home and keep the little band together if she has to manicure her fingernails over a washboard to do it.

If men had half as much grit as the women there would be different stories written about a good many homes.  Look at her work!  It is the greatest in the world; in its far reaching importance it is transcendently above everything in the universe – her task in molding hearts and lives and shaping character.  If you want to find greatness, don’t go toward the throne; go to the cradle, and the nearer you get to the cradle, the nearer to greatness.

Now, when Jesus wanted to give His disciples an impressive object lesson, He called in a college professor, did he?  Not much.  He brought in a little child and said: “Except ye become as one of these, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of God.”

The work is so important that God will not trust anybody with it but a mother.  The launching of a boy or girl to live for Christ is greater work than to launch a battleship.

Moses was a chosen vessel of the Lord and God wanted him to get the right kind of a start, so He gave him a good mother.  There wasn’t a college professor in all Egypt that God would trust with that baby, so He put the child back in its mother’s arms.  He knew the best one on earth to trust with that baby was its own mother.

When God sends us great men He wants to have them get the right kind of a start.  So He sees to it that they have a good mother.  Most any old stick will do for a daddy.  God is particular about the mothers.

And so the great need of this country or any other country is good mothers, and I believe we have more good mothers in America than any other nation on earth.  If Washington’s mother had been like Happy Hooligan’s mother, Washington would have been a Happy Hooligan.

Somebody has said, “God could not be everywhere, so He gave us mothers.” Now there may be no poetry in it, but it’s true that “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” and if every cradle was rocked by a good mother, the world would be full of good men as sure as you breathe.  If every boy and every girl today had a good mother, the saloons and disreputable houses would go out of business tomorrow.

A young man one time joined a church and the preacher asked him: “What was it I said that induced you to be a Christian?” Said the young man: “Nothing that I have ever heard you say, but it is the way my mother lived.” I tell you an ounce of example outweighs forty million tons of theory and speculation.

If the mothers would live as they should, we preachers would have little to do.  Keep the devil out of the boys and girls and he will get out of the world.  The old sinners will die off if we keep the young ones clean. The biggest place in the world is that which is being filled by the people who are closely in touch with youth.  Being a king, an emperor or a president is mighty small potatoes compared to being a mother or the teacher of children, whether in a public school or in a Sunday school, and they fill places so great that there isn’t an angel in Heaven that wouldn’t be glad to give a bushel of diamonds to boot to come down here and take their places.

Commanding an army is little more than sweeping a street or pounding an anvil compared with the training of a boy or girl.  The mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings that Egypt ever had.  To teach a child to love truth and hate a lie, to love purity and hate vice, is greater than inventing a flying machine that will take you to the moon before breakfast.  Unconsciously you set in motion influences that will damn or bless the old universe and bring new worlds out of chaos and transform them to God.

A man sent a friend of mine some crystals from the Scientific American and said: “One of these crystals as large as a pin point will give a distinguishable green hue to 116 hogsheads of water.” Think of it!  Power enough in an atom to tincture 116 hogsheads of water. There is power in a word or act to blight a boy, and through him, curse a community.  There is power enough in a word to tincture the life of that child so it will become a power to lift the world to Jesus Christ.  The mother will put in motion influence that will either touch Heaven or Hell. Talk about greatness!

Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, then read the mothers’ names in God’s hall of fame, and see what they have been in the world.  Wait until you see God’s hall of fame; you won’t see any Ralph Waldo Emersons, but you will see women bent over the washtub. I want to tell you women, fooling away your time, hugging and kissing a poodle dog, caressing a “Spitz,” drinking society brandy mash and a cocktail, and playing cards, is mighty small business compared to molding the life of a child.

Tell me, where did Moses get his faith?  From his mother. Where did Moses get his backbone to say “I won’t be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter”? He got it from his mother. Where did Moses get the nerve to say, “Excuse me, please”, to the pleasure of Egypt? He got it from his mother.

You can bank on it that he didn’t inhale it from his dad. Many a boy would have turned out better if his old dad had died before the kid was born. You tell your boy to keep out of bad company. Sometimes when he walks down the street with his father, he’s in the worst company in town.

His dad smokes, drinks and chews.  I would not clean his old spittoon.  Let the hog clean his own trough. Moses got it from his ma.  He was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, but that didn’t give him the swelled head.

When God wants to throw a world out into space, He is not concerned about it.  The first mile that world takes settles its course for eternity.  When God throws a child out into the world He is mighty anxious that it gets a right start.

The Catholics are right when they say: “Give us the children until they are 10 years old and we don’t care who has them after that.” The Catholics are not losing any sleep about losing men and women from their church membership.  It is the only church that has ever shown us the only sensible way to reach the masses – that is, by getting hold of the children.

That’s the only way on God’s earth that you will ever solve the problem of reaching the masses.  You get the boys and girls started right and the devil will hang a crepe on his door, bank his fires and Hell will be for rent before the Fourth of July.

A friend of mine has a little girl that she was compelled to take to the hospital for an operation.  They thought she would be frightened, but she said: “I don’t care if mamma will he there and hold my hand.”

They prepared her for the operation, led her into the room, put her on the table, put the cone over her face and saturated it with ether, and she said, “Now, mamma, take me by the hand and hold it and I’ll not be afraid”.

And the mother stood there and held her hand.  The operation was performed, and when she regained consciousness they said: “Bessie, weren’t you afraid when they put you on the table?” She said: “No, mamma stood there and held my hand.  I wasn’t afraid.”

There is a mighty power in a mother’s hand.  There’s more power in a woman’s hand than there is in a king’s scepter. And there is a mighty power in a mother’s kiss – inspiration, courage, hope, ambition, in a mother’s kiss.  One kiss made Benjamin West a painter, and the memory of it clung to him through life.  One kiss will drive away the fear in the dark and make the little one brave.  It will give strength where there is weakness.

I was in a town one day and saw a mother out with her boy, and he had great steel braces on both legs, to his hips, and when I got near enough to them I learned by their conversation that wasn’t the first time the mother had had him out for a walk.

She had him out exercising him so he would get use of his limbs.  He was struggling and she smiled and said: “You are doing fine today; better than you did yesterday,” and she stooped and kissed him, and the kiss of encouragement made him work all the harder, and she said: “You are doing great, son,” and he said, “Mamma, I’m going to run: look at me.” And one of his toes caught on the steel brace on the other leg and he stumbled, but she caught him and kissed him, and said: “That was fine, son; how well you did it!”

Now, he did it because his mother had encouraged him with a kiss.  He didn’t do it to show off.  There is nothing that will help and inspire like a mother’s kiss.

If we knew the baby fingers pressed

against the window pane,

Would be cold and still tomorrow, never

trouble us again,

Would the bright eyes of our darling catch

the frown upon our brow?

Let us gather up the sunbeams lying all

around our path.

Let us keep the wheat and roses, casting

out the thorns and chaff!

We shall find our sweetest comforts in the

blessing of today,

With a patient hand removing all the briers

from our way.

There is power in a mother’s song, too.  It’s the best music the world ever heard.  The best music in the world is like biscuits – it’s the kind mother makes.  There is no brass band or pipe organ that can hold a candle to mother’s song.  Calve, Melba, Nordica, Eames, SchumannHeink – they are cheap skates compared to mother.  They can’t sing at all.

They don’t know the rudiments of the kind of music mother sings.  The kind she sings gets tangled up in your heart strings.  There would be a disappointment in the music of Heaven to me if there were no mothers there to sing.  The song of an angel or a seraph would not have much charm for me.  What would you care for an angel’s song if there is no mother’s song? The song of a mother is sweeter than that ever sung by minstrel or written by poet.  Talk about sonnets!  You ought to hear the mother sing when her babe is on her breast, when her heart is filled with emotions. Her voice may not please an artist, but it will please anyone who has a heart in him.  The songs that have moved the world are not the songs written by the great masters.  The best music, in my judgment, is not the faultless rendition of these high priced opera singers.

There is nothing in art that can put into melody the happiness which associations and memories bring.  I think when we reach heaven it will be found that some of the best songs we will sing there will be those we learned at mother’s knee.

There is power in a mother’s love.  A mother’s love must be like God’s love.  How God could ever tell the world that He loved it without a mother’s help has often puzzled me. If the devils in Hell ever turned pale it was the day mother’s love flamed up for the first time in a woman’s heart.  If the devil ever got “cold feet” it was that day, in my judgment. You know a mother has to love her babe before it is born.  Like God, she has to go into the shadows of the valley of death to bring it into the world, and she will love her child, suffer for it and it can grow up and become vile and yet she will love it.

Nothing will make her blame it, and I think, women, that one of the awful things in Hell will be that there will be no mother’s love there. Nothing but black, bottomless, endless, eternal hate in Hell – no mother’s love.

And though he creep through the vilest caves of sin,

And crouch perhaps, with bleared and bloodshot eyes,

Under the hangman’s rope – a mother’s lips

Will kiss him in his last bed of disgrace,

And love him e’en for what she hoped of him.

I thank God for what mother’s love has done for the world. Oh, there is power in a mother’s trust. Surely as Moses was put in his mother’s arms by the princess, so God put the babes in your arms, as a charge by him to raise and care for. Every child is put in a mother’s arms as a trust from God, and she has to answer to God for the way she deals with that child.  No mother on God’s earth has any right to raise her children for pleasure.  She has no right to send them to dancing school and haunts of sin. You have no right to do those things that will curse your children.  That babe is put in your arms to train for the Lord. No mother has any more right to raise her children for pleasure than I have to pick your pockets or throw red pepper in your eyes.  She has no more right to do that than a bank cashier has to rifle the vaults and take the savings of the people.  One of the worst sins you can commit is to be unfaithful to your trust. “Take this child and nurse it for me”. That is all the business you have with it.  That is a jewel that belongs to God and He gives it to you to polish for Him so He can set it in a crown. Who knows but Judas became the godless, good-for-nothing wretch he was because he had a godless, good-for-nothing mother?  Do you know?  I don’t.

Who is more to blame for the crowded prisons than mothers?  Who is more to blame for the crowded, disreputable houses than you are, to let your children gad the streets with every Tom, Dick and Harry, or keep company with some little jack rabbit whose character would make a black mark on a piece of tar paper.  I have talked with men in prisons who have damned their mothers to their face.  Why?  They blame their mothers for their being where they are.

“Take the child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages.” God pays in joy that is fireproof, famine proof and devil proof. He will pay you, don’t you worry.  So get your name on God’s payroll.  “Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will pay you your wages.”

If you haven’t been doing that, then get your name on God’s payroll.  You have been drawing wages from the devil.  Why have you a bleary eyed, sickly, cigarette smoking boy?  Why have you a girl whose reputation is kicked around like a football?  Why?  You have been working for the devil, and see what you have.

“Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages”. Then your responsibility!  It is so great that I don’t see how any woman can fail to be a Christian and serve God.  What do you think God will do if the mother fails?  I stagger under it.  What if, through your unfaithfulness, your boy becomes a curse and your daughter a blight?  What, if through your neglect, that boy becomes a Judas, when he might have been a John or Paul?

Down in Cincinnati some years ago a mother went to the zoological garden and stood leaning over the bear pit, watching the bears and dropping crumbs and peanuts to them.  In her arms she held her babe, a year and three months old.  She was so interested in the bears that the baby wriggled itself out of her arms and she watched those huge monsters rip it to shreds. What a veritable Hell it will be all through her life to know that her little one was lost through her own carelessness and neglect!

“Take this child and raise it for me, and I will pay you your wages.” Will you promise and covenant with God, and with me, and with one another, that from now on you will try, with God’s help, to do better than you ever have done to raise your children for God?

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

(Starbuck’s administration could just get on with selling coffee and not involve the company in a religious/political dispute, or they could pursue their anti-bible agenda as private people. However, they have chosen to proclaim their agenda as the stance of the Starbuck’s company itself, therefore making it clear that to purchase Starbuck products is to support Starbuck’s anti-bible agenda.)

The Starbucks coffee giant says redefining marriage is one of its “core” values, and an international boycott has been launched against the company.

The boycott has been organised by American-based campaign group the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which has set up the dumpstarbucks.com website.

Director of NOM’s Corporate Fairness Project, Jonathan Baker, said Starbucks’ support for same-sex marriage goes beyond a mere statement from an executive.

More …. http://www.christian.org.uk/news/call-to-boycott-starbucks-for-its-stance-on-marriage

“The support is not just the personal endorsement of a senior executive, but is the official corporate position of the company,” he said.

“Obviously this position does not reflect the views of all customers and employees and the NOM protest and dumpstarbucks.com is designed to enable these customers and employees to have a voice.”

Washington State, in the north west of the US, is currently considering a Bill to legalise gay marriage.

A Starbucks spokesman said: “Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples.”

The boycott has so far attracted the support of over 36,000 people.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

President Obama has made it official: He now supports same-sex marriage. It is his latest onslaught on traditional America. Mr. Obama has made history. He is our first commander in chief to openly embrace legalizing homosexual and lesbian unions. He has crossed a cultural watershed, paving the way for the eventual triumph of the homosexual agenda. Rather than being a victory for “civil rights” or “marital equality,” Mr. Obama’s decision puts America on the path to moral disintegration. We are one step closer to becoming like secular, post-Christian Europe.

For years, Mr. Obama claimed his position was “evolving.” Facing re-election and under growing pressure from liberal interest groups, especially the powerful homosexual lobby, he finally capitulated. His decision was not based on principle, but cynical politics. Mr. Obama needs the gay and lesbian vote to win in November. Immediately upon his announcement Wednesday, Hollywood donors opened their checkbooks. Millions were pumped into the Obama campaign coffers; the liberal base has been energized, and the cultural left is hailing Mr. Obama as the Martin Luther King of our time. The president believes it is an electoral masterstroke.

Instead, he has made a big mistake. Same-sex marriage is opposed by most Americans. On Tuesday, North Carolina became the 31st state to vote for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The referendum was not even close: More than 60 percent of voters supported Amendment One. The liberal media, such as the New York Times, consistently portray anti-gay-marriage advocates as bigots.

This is nonsense. Most Americans are neither intolerant nor bigoted. Rather, they understand that marriage is the basic institution of society. For thousands of years in the West, it has had a privileged role. Marriage solidifies the bonds between a man and a woman, laying the foundation for raising children in stable families. It is the glue that binds a functioning, viable social order. Marriage is the natural unit that enables society to perpetuate itself from one generation to the next. This is not hate; it’s common sense.

It is why, for example, the drive to ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina was led by black pastors and churches. It also is why the black and Hispanic vote was pivotal to passing California’s Proposition 8, which also upholds traditional marriage. Blacks and Hispanics – although key Democratic voting blocs – tend to be deeply Christian and socially conservative. Mr. Obama has put himself on a collision course with large segments of his base. He has kissed away major swing states, such as North Carolina and Virginia. He also is further alienating Middle America, which still believes in pro-family values. In short, Mr. Obama is committing political suicide.

Yet the same-sex-marriage issue is more important than simple politics. It is about the future of America’s civilization. Within hours of Amendment One’s victory, the pro-homosexual-marriage forces announced they would sue to block North Carolina’s constitutional ban. In other words, they repeated the Proposition 8 model: Circumvent defeat at the ballot box by asking leftist judges to trump the democratic will of the people. This is judicial tyranny masquerading as civil rights – a naked attempt by a minority to impose its neo-pagan immorality upon the majority. The homosexual agenda is a manifestation of the totalitarian impulse at the heart of liberalism: the desire by a ruling cartel to impose a social revolution from above.

Every major religious faith – Christianity, Islam, Orthodox Judaism – teaches that homosexuality is an abomination. Homosexual behavior, especially sodomy, is unnatural and immoral. It is absurd, bordering on social madness, to elevate gay and lesbian relationships to the sanctified status of marriage – a form of moral anarchy characterized by radical individualism, hedonism and sexual liberation. Same-sex marriage is a symptom of cultural decay.

Our Judeo-Christian ancestors understood something that postmodern liberals do not: The primary purpose of sexual activity is to procreate – to have children – within the boundaries of marriage. Romantic love, personal fulfillment, burning passion – all of these things are nice, but secondary to the real purpose and mission of marriage. Secular liberals are engaged in social engineering. They are fostering the myth that women and men are the same and interchangeable. According to Mr. Obama, a child needs two committed and loving parents – regardless of their gender. This is fantasy. A child needs a committed mother and father. Women and men are profoundly different; they have distinct natures, with unique biological, emotional and psychological characteristics. It is the fusion of these two divergent genders that provides the balance and harmony necessary for the healthy development of children. Hence, same-sex “marriage” is an oxymoron. It is akin to redefining gravity: an act of hubris destined to fail.

For decades, liberals – aided and abetted by the popular culture – have been bringing homosexuality into the mainstream. It is slowly being promoted in public schools and constantly being glamorized in television shows and movies. The more the homosexual agenda is spread, the more militant its advocates become. They no longer want toleration. They seek full social acceptance. Once marriage falls, only one institution will be left standing in their way: traditional Christianity. The ultimate aim of the radical left has been to destroy religion – especially Western Christendom. Once a religion dies, so does the culture and civilization it spawned. America is at a crossroads, enmeshed in a cultural war with homosexual advocates like Mr. Obama who are determined to strike at the very nexus of our civilization.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/10/obamas-homosexual-america-833943949/

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

An Octogenarian Mountaineer

Moses climbed Mt. Sinai repeatedly. Whether he climbed to the top every time or not we don’t know, but we read of seven (likely) ascents:

1) Exodus 3:1-6, when God spoke to him from the burning bush;

2) Exodus 19:1-6, when God told him to warn the people not to draw near;

3) Exodus 19:8-9, when Moses returned their answer;

4) Exodus 19:16-20, when God thundered out the law from Mt. Sinai;

5) Exodus 19:21, where Moses draws near to God to receive the judgements of chapters 21-23;

6) Exodus 24:9- 18, when Moses is given the tablets of stone containing the ten commandments; and

7) Exodus 34:1-9, when Moses receives the second tables of the law.

The great question is, why would Moses, at the age of eighty years, climb a mountain that towered to more than 2500 metres, and do it over and over again? What possible motive would compel him, not only to climb Sinai, but on two separate occasions to spend forty days on the mountain with God?

A Progression in Purpose

As we meditate on the Scriptures that record his ascents of Sinai, we perceive the spiritual growth of Moses. To begin with, in Exodus 3, he mounted the lower slopes as he led the flocks of Jethro. God met him as Moses did his everyday business. He had no plan to seek God there. He was feeding sheep. But God had plans for Moses. At least he had the curiosity of a teachable man.

We next see him climb the mountain (in chapter 19) as priest and descend as prophet. There is a progression here. He is drawing nigh to God and God is drawing nigh to Him.

In Exodus 19:20 we tremblingly behold Moses climbing Sinai when it was all on fire and the trumpet waxed louder and louder and God spoke the words of His law. Confident courage gave him strength to seek God when younger men fled, when the glory of God caused the mount to quake and the people to tremble. And then we read of his long periods alone with God, forty days in Exodus 24 and forty days in Exodus 34. On the second occasion he came down with the glory of God upon his face. Moses’ ascents of Sinai marked the progress of his spiritual growth.

The Final Clues

Why did Moses climb the mountain again and again? The answer is found in two texts. Exodus 33:18: ‘…I beseech thee, shew me thy glory’; and Psalm 103:7: ‘He made known his ways unto Moses…’ Moses climbed Sinai so many times because he sought God and His ways. He longed to know the Lord, and he obtained what he wanted. Hidden in the cleft of the rock and sheltered by the hand of God, Moses was shown the lesser glory of God (all the glory he could endure without being consumed by its brightness!) and heard the voice of God declaring, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.’ (Exodus 34:6-7) It is a striking insight into the life of Moses that most of the book of Exodus is the literal words of God to Israel through Moses. Moses was a Bible preacher whose sermons were mostly Scripture!

A Mountaineer’s Sermon to 21st Century Christians

Did Moses have good relationships and people skills? Amazingly, he did. For forty years he led a rebellious multitude and did it with meekness. How did he do it? He did it by continually deepening his relationship with God. And he deepened his relationship with God by seeking Him over and over again. Every time Moses sought God he found that God’s way was to give him more of His Word. This is what Moses’ life preaches to the 21st century about people skills: Good leadership, long term leadership, depends upon knowing God better and better. And knowing God better and better always means more Bible!

I would like to ask him, “Moses, are there any pointers you could share with us so that we can have a deeper relationship with God?” And likely, he would reply, “Yes, there are:

“1) Knowing God personally is costly. It will cost you time, energy, and friends. Whether it involves a mountain or a cross it will involve sacrifice. Comfort never makes saints out of us. You can’t please God with bargains. No saint of God who was a miser ever drew closer to God .

“2) When you are serious about your spiritual growth, you will spend much time in God’s Word. You will never say about solid Bible preaching that you ‘got over that years ago.’ You will never outgrow your need for the Word of God.”

There is at least one other epitaph for Moses. It is written in Deuteronomy 34:10: ‘There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.’

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Chris Hustler - God Wants to Save Even the Most Wicked Sinner

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

This reply outraged the theologians of the predestinarian camp.  They retorted, ‘Free will!  You do not belong here! Go join the free will crowd,’ and kicked him out.

When he retreated to the free-will group, he was asked why he switched camps.  The timid brother replied, ‘Well, I was sent here by the predestinarians.’ Enraged, they pushed him out the door as they shouted, ‘Get out!  You cannot possibly join us unless you come of your own free will.’ So the poor chap was left out in the cold with nowhere to go.’

We would have to come to the conclusion that  there is only one theological position left for this man. He would just have to become a biblicist and stop worrying about being what anybody else is.

It seems that simplicity has almost entirely gone out of style among independent Baptist preachers. Very seldom do we meet anyone who is content to simply take Scripture at face value. If a pastor doesn’t wear the denominational specs, tinted to match the prescription approved by a particular seminary, there will be loud cries that he is blind and cannot see how to read his Bible.

Some years ago I read that a seminary-educated preacher loaned a commentary to an unschooled black pastor, hoping to help him get a bit of education. After a few days, the black brother brought it back. When asked what he thought of it, he replied, “The Bible sure does throw a lot of light on that there book, alright.” Very quaint observation, and very accurate!

It would be good if we could just go back to being Biblicists. The dictionaries define a Biblicist as one who holds to Biblicism. Biblicism is “the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible; a strict adherence to the letter of the Bible.”

For altogether too many years, well meaning theologians have attempted to force a universe of Bible truth into the thimble of man’s making. Inevitably, it results in having to leave out precious verses that cannot be made to fit. (Isn’t it amazing how many preachers value their theological thimble more than the inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word of God?)

Occasionally I come across an individual who has given up trying to please Augustine and Arminius, and has decided he just don’t fit in anybody’s camp, but the Lord’s, and he’s content with that.

Good onya, matey. Welcome to Biblicism!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

David Cloud - New Evangelicalism Danger to the Churches 3 of 3

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

It is a question the Lord Jesus raised for His disciples, but we no longer hear it asked. (It would be a good exercise in self control to stop reading at this point and review the list of questions you ask the man who wants to be pastor.)

Finished? Well, what did you come up with? Let me guess. You ask about his doctrinal soundness. And you ask about his educational qualifications. And you have a question or two about his experience in ministry. And you ask how many he has won to Christ, and how he goes about it. You want to know how he disciples his converts. And you want to know about his family, and about the people he fellowships with, and about his convictions, and which Bible he uses, and what he believes about separation from sin. And, if you are wise, you ask him if he has any skeletons in his closet. Good, good. Those are questions we SHOULD ask. But, if those are the ONLY questions, we are dropping the ball on the one yard line. We are failing to ask the one question we should ask, we are failing our people, and we may be sealing the fate of our churches.

A Test for the Disciples

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus was approached by James and John, accompanied by their mother. This semi-private conversation had a specific purpose. They came seeking the highest places of leadership in Jesus’ kingdom. If He would be King, then they would be Prime Minister and President. In His reply He questioned the level of their commitment, but he asked none of our questions. We assume from this, not that they are unimportant, but that He already knew the answers and was satisfied with them. James and John, forever the impetuous ‘Sons of Thunder’, caused quite a stir among the disciples by their request. So the Lord Jesus presented the Twelve with a test. And it is this test that should be turned into a question for men who would enter the ministry. Let us read the words of our Savior: ‘But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many‘ (Matthew 20:25-28).

Jesus tested their fitness for leadership by their willingness to be the servants of those they would lead. No servant-hood? No position of leadership among His disciples! He used two familiar words to describe the nature of their service, ‘diakonos‘ and ‘doulos.’ The disciples knew that ‘diakonos‘ refers to an errand boy or a waiter, whose work involves the most menial of tasks. They would have known that ‘doulos‘ was the common word for a bondslave, a life-long voluntary servant, one who had surrendered all his rights in order to serve his master. And, if this was not enough, He pointed out to them that He had set the example for them, and that His service for others would reach its highest point in His death for sinners.

The Question That Must Be Asked

The Lord’s test for the disciples raises the question we ought to ask to all who ‘desire the office of a bishop.’ Recognizing that we ought to ask this question is only half the job. Wording the question is the hard part. How can we present the importance of being a servant so that a candidate really gets the point?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. We would like to have your?comments?on Matthew 20:25-28, and how these verses apply to men who desire to hold places of leadership in our churches.

2. Do you feel that there are jobs in the church which are beneath your dignity?

3. May we have your permission to ask your present pastor about your service for others?

4. Do you presently do any charitable work for needy people where you live? If so, what?

5. If you were asked to be our part-time pastor, would you be willing to work at a laboring job, and do it cheerfully?

Why Service is So Important

Over the years, I have discovered several reasons why it is so important to be a servant of those we would lead.

1. First, Jesus said so. That, in itself, is reason enough. If an aspiring pastor bucks at this (or any other) word from Christ, it is doubtful whether he will obey any other instruction the Lord gives. Service is a vital way of showing that I am under authority to Christ, and that I am following His example. He asked his hearers, ‘And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?‘ (Luke 6:46).

2. Service of others is one of the courses we must pass in the school of humility. And humility is the key to grace (James 4:6). Jeremiah speaks of this in Lamentations 3:27, 28 when he writes, ‘It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.’

3. Service is an early expression of love for others, according to Galatians 5:13b, ‘by love serve one another.’ It is a great truth, that if you will tell me who you serve, I will tell you who you love. My people only know that I love them when I serve them.

4. Service to others is such a rare commodity in our self-centred world, that it is often the key that unlocks a sinner’s heart to the gospel. Whenever I have opportunity to tie a little boy’s shoe, or wipe his nose for him, I may be saying more in that simple act than by what I preach in my sermon.

5. Service to others is often the match that lights a fire in a back-slidden Christian’s heart. Many a time have I seen a visitor come to our church and begin a lifetime of service for Christ because they saw one of our people being a servant to someone else.

Are There Examples of Leaders in the Bible Who Were First Servants?

It is a question that should not have to be asked, but the answer is a resounding ‘YES!!!’ Jesus was a servant first before He was King! Paul plied his trade of tent-making to provide for the needs of his fellow laborers. Elisha’s reputation was that he poured water on the hands of Elijah. Moses and David herded sheep before they led God’s people. Joshua was Moses’ servant before he was Israel’s general. The list goes on and on, so that the pages of history, both sacred and secular, are filled with the accounts of men who served before they led. In fact, their lives became so filled with service that their leadership was, to them,?no more than an extension of their servitude.

Pastor Bob was called to a church in Ohio about thirty five years ago. He is an inspiration to me. If I could attend his church I would. The last time I saw him he shared with me two forms of service he had implemented in his church. First, he handed over to one of his associates the Wednesday night Adult Bible study and prayer time so that he could pastor the children in the church. He led a meeting just for them, and spent precious hours of Bible Study with little kids. And second, he and his staff asked the church if they could take on the church cleaning. They explained that, since they were already there at the church five days a week, they would like to divide up the church cleaning among them, and they would like the money that was saved to be sent to their missionaries. When Brother Bob told me this I was touched by his servant spirit, and the fact that he had imparted it to his staff members. But I have to tell you that I gained an entirely new understanding of what it means to be a servant when he told me (very quietly and confidentially) that it was his turn that week to clean the toilets everyday. I think he had been reading Matthew 20:25-28.

Somehow we need to get back to the simple truth,

Magnitude depends on Servitude!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

“Lord, are you sure about this? You want me to leave my church in town and go to the country? I dunno if I can do it, Lord. I know, I said I’d go where you want me to go, and I’d say what you want me to say, but this is asking a bit much.

“You know I’d be stepping down from my Megachurch ministry. Why, Hybels and Schuller are going to be here in a month for our Church Growth Seminar. And you know we’ve got the Hillsong Praise and Worship Team coming, too. I can’t just up and leave, Lord. What would they think?

“I just got our Ministry’s new website up and running, Lord, and already it’s getting over 10 000 hits a day. It’s been nominated for the Website of the Month Award. Who would go to the banquet to receive the prize if I shoot through?

“And, Lord, you wouldn’t want me to go someplace out in the boonies to serve you if there’s not a good Internet Service Provider there, would you? How am I going to keep up with the sports scores? I hear they don’t even have Broadband out there in the bush.

“You know, Lord, the little wife has a really good hairdresser here. I might have problems if we have to shift way out there. The climate out there is murder on a woman’s hair.

“And the kids. Lord, they’ll kill me if I take them away from the games arcade in the shopping mall. They’re at that delicate stage right now, Lord.

“I don’t mean to be stubborn, Lord, but my golf game is going really well, and I’d hate to miss seeing the football finals. You know how much trouble I had getting those tickets.

“So, if you don’t mind, Lord, I think I’ll pass on this one. I’m sure you’ll find somebody.”

* * * * *

The 4wd pickup slowed as it neared the campground. A long plume of dust drifted downwind as the driver braked to a halt beside a fireplace. The driver stepped down, and stretched. The sun, a ball of red fire, hovered on the horizon for a moment, and then dropped out of sight.

Sleeping bag rolled out, and dinner dishes washed, the traveler hung a gas lantern on a branch and went to the truck to find something to read. He fossicked around on the parcel shelf until he dug up a small paper bag.

He turned up the lantern, and settled back against the trunk of the tree. His posture betrayed his curiosity as he bent to peer closely at the words. He read a few words from the first page, smiled to himself, and began flipping through the pages, finally settling on a spot about halfway through.

He read aloud, slowly, seeking to understand each word. “He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living…”

He read the words again, and gazed into the fire for a long spell, and said, “I wish I could understand what this is all about…”

The road lay empty and quiet, and no one passed by.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — After both Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan pushed for acceptance of same-sex marriage Sunday (May 6), North Carolina reversed the trend and became the 30th state to amend its constitution to define marriage as an act between one man and one woman.

Now President Barack Obama has affirmed his support of same-sex marriage. The president’s statements should come as no surprise.

His refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and his comments about “evolving” on the issue both pointed toward this event. I Tweeted recently that I expected such a move from the president. The only remote surprise is the timing of his announcement. I, like many others, expected this announcement after he had won a second term in November. This announcement accelerated the timeline of an inevitable conversation.

So how do we as evangelicals respond?

More …. http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=37799

Last year I wrote a brief post on the future of the evangelical response regarding homosexuality after Starbucks’ Howard Schultz withdrew from speaking at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. In that post, I listed five principles to consider about the issue of homosexuality and evangelical churches. Those principles still apply today.

The issue is not going away, and you cannot ignore it or seek to downplay your views. Since Stonewall, the gay rights movement has continued to gain influence. Evangelicals have responded poorly at times and earned a reputation for intolerance. Now, as they seek a more biblical and grace-filled response, we cannot erase our past mistakes. However, we can control our attitudes and responses in the future by being clear and gracious at the same time.

The culture sees this as a “justice” issue — Christians discriminating on the basis of immutable characteristics.

Christians have always believed and taught that God’s standard and intent is a man, a woman, a marriage and a lifetime. To us, that just makes sense, but to an increasing number in our culture, this is simply discrimination. President Obama clearly justifies his reason for supporting gay marriage because of the Golden Rule — the idea that we should treat others justly, as we would want to be treated.

Though it is easy to make the case in the church that homosexual practice (and marriage) is incompatible with scripture, it will be an exceedingly difficult case to make in today’s culture.

I mention in “Subversive Kingdom” an example of running for school board. A half a century ago you would not have been considered for public office in most communities without a strong record of service in and loyalty to a local church. Today that same qualification, if the church teaches biblical truths about homosexuality, is a detriment to one’s candidacy in many areas of our country. This will become more of an issue in days to come.

Building bridges and showing grace and love is lacking, needed and essential when dealing with people with different views and values.

Many Christians are more concerned that they take every opportunity to clearly condemn homosexuality. Simply put, I do not think you or I need to begin every conversation with a statement of our opposition to homosexuality. We can, indeed, show some grace to those who struggle while believing what the Scriptures clearly teach.

At the end of the day, all evangelicals will still have to deal with an issue on which the evangelical view is perceived as narrow and bigoted.

Evangelicals will continue to be pressured to accept a worldview rooted in cultural acceptance rather than biblical revelation. While President Obama’s thoughts on certain issues may evolve, the biblical teaching has not. We can listen to Dan Savage and decide to “ignore” the Bible’s teachings on homosexuality, or we can live with the fact of what the Bible teaches and recognize that, because of such, our reputations will suffer.

Christians have said a lot of unhelpful things about the subject over the years — but that does not mean we cannot say helpful things now. The most helpful truth is the biblical truth. In the midst of a complicated issue, we need to admit to poor engagement in the past, speak of the complexities of the issues involved, but always point to biblical truth and change that can be found in Christ.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP) — U.S. Rep. Barney Frank infamously asked a question earlier this decade that has become one of the central questions surrounding the same-sex “marriage” debate: “How will my same-sex marriage harm your marriage?”

It gets asked constantly and is meant to be a discussion-stopper. But the problem is that it sees marriage as purely a private relationship, hermetically sealed off from all other parts of community life. It reveals a complete lack of understanding of what marriage actually is — not just in our country, or for people of faith, but across all human cultures. Marriage is what anthropologists call a “human universal” because it is found in all human cultures throughout time. And it exists as a heterosexual institution throughout the world and history, not in the majority, but exclusively.

But the real answer to Congressman Frank’s question is quite simple: “Your same-sex marriage will do nothing to impact my marriage. But your marriage is not what we’re debating in our nation. We are debating whether it is wise to radically and permanently redefine marriage in our nation for everyone. And that is quite significant indeed.”

More …. http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=37494

First, same-sex “marriage” not only redefines marriage wholesale for everyone, but it actually deconstructs humanity itself. That’s a very strong and consequential assertion, but that is exactly what it does. Same-sex “marriage” essentially creates genderless marriage by saying 1), the fundamental male and female nature of humanity doesn’t matter in any way, and 2), the different parties to a marriage are wholly interchangeable. Male and female as the basic foundation of family — as well as society — simply become preferential, like your taste for Rocky Road or Butter Pecan ice cream. Solely a matter of personal taste.

But the way this really deconstructs humanity is that it says that you as a husband or father, or you as a wife or mother, have no real meaning or significance in your fundamental humanity — a humanity which always reveals itself as either male or female. In fact, same-sex parenting says your essence as a man or woman is found only in your reproductive material. What does a lesbian couple ask from a man in order for them to become parents? Only his sperm. In fact, this fact has been clearly admitted by lesbian activists in products they can purchase for the babies. A t-shirt or infant onesie proudly declares, “My Daddy’s Name is Donor.” No joke. And two men who want to become parents must go next door and borrow only an egg from the female half of humanity. “Want any help mothering your child?” the woman might ask. “No, we just got everything we need from motherhood thank you!”

Same-sex “marriage” and parenting reduces male and female/fatherhood and motherhood to microscopic reproductive material. How do you feel about that as man or women raising boys and girls to be good men and women? What kind of world will they enter adulthood in?

And because same-sex “marriage” declares humanity wholly genderless, it also redefines the family. If male and female are merely sentimental ideas, with no practical, essential qualities for family, then family, parenting and kinship radically change. An important 1996 essay in the gay magazine OUT makes this clear, admitting that legalizing same-sex “marriage” is “a chance to wholly transform the definition of family in American culture. … Our gay leaders must acknowledge that gay marriage is just as radical and transformative as the religious right says it is.” (emphasis in original) They go on to say that same-sex “marriage” will be “one of the great social experiments in this nation’s history,” ensuring that “[r]ather than being transformed by the institution of marriage, gay men — some of whom have raised the concept of the ‘open relationship’ to an art form — could simply transform the institution itself, making it more sexually open, even influencing their heterosexual counterparts.”

Same-sex “marriage” would redefine parenting, transforming it from a biological into a legal institution. Even today, saying a child has a right to a mother and father has been deemed hate-speech.

But same-sex “marriage” is also threatening religious liberty. Activists have tried to comfort religious folks by saying “your pastor will never be forced to perform same-sex weddings” — as if that is as far as religious faith goes. But there is a growing list of real-life ways that citizens’ and organizations’ rights are being trampled. Here are only a few.

– Catholic Charities had to shut down their large-scale adoption work in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. because they refuse to place children in same-sex homes and because they believe orphaned children should get a mother and father.

– Wedding photographers in New Mexico were charged with violating state anti-discrimination laws because they refused to photograph a lesbian commitment ceremony.

– The Salvation Army in San Francisco lost a $3.5 million contract providing important social services to the poor because it refused to provide domestic-partner benefits.

– Churches in Canada have been threatened because they refuse to allow same-sex wedding parties to use their social halls.

– A lesbian couple filed a discrimination complaint against a Methodist facility in New Jersey because it denied their request to use the group’s boardwalk pavilion for their commitment ceremonies. The couple won.

Chai Feldblum was recently appointed by President Obama as a commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). When asked what she thought about the intersection of religious freedom and gay rights, she bluntly said, “I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.” She stunningly elaborated, “Sexual liberty should win in most cases. There can be a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, but in almost all cases the sexual liberty should win because that’s the only way that the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner.”

Same-sex “marriage” is not just about one’s personal marriage. It is fundamentally about how we define and understand marriage, family and humanity itself. And for the first time in the history of our nation, religious freedom is being asked to move to the back of the bus. And the reason is to make room for sexual and familial experimentation.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

And then there’s one incident that still haunts the coast of the Southeastern United States five decades later — the loss of a four ton thermonuclear bomb off the shore of Savannah, Georgia.

Playing war games with a nuclear bomb
A mid-air collision between a United States F-86 fighter and a B-47 bomber carrying a Mark 15 Mod 0 nuclear bomb during a simulated combat scenario left the fighter destroyed and the bomber with a damaged fuel tank and engine. And yes, flying a simulation with a detonation-ready nuclear bomb is bizarre, but it provides the most accurate preparation for a combat scenario.

After attempting to land the broken bomber (one to three times, depending on the source), the pilot of the B-47 obtained permission to jettison the nuclear bomb off the coast of Georgia.

More …. http://jalopnik.com/5907827/when-we-lost-an-unexploded-nuclear-bomb-off-the-coast-of-georgia

Regardless of how asinine this plan sounds, it is the preferable of the two options — forcing a crash landing in a populated area would kill the crew and contaminate the area, creating an international incident in the process. The incident is the definition of a Broken Arrow scenario — a situation where a nuclear weapon is released, but without intent to harm.

The search is on
The bomb landed somewhere near in Wassaw Sound, near the mouth of the Savannah River and a very popular tourist destination, Tybee Island, known for its beautiful and secluded beaches available to locals. The bomb plunged into 15 to 20 feet of water, before sinking another five feet into a tomb of sand and silt.

The U.S. military searched for the unexploded nuclear bomb for nine weeks without success, using divers and ships to probe the area around Tybee Island… very, very gently. The bomb still lies somewhere off the coast 55 years later, with a 2001 recovery effort carrried out by the United States Air Force unsuccessful.

Shifting stories
The official statement from the United States government is that the bomber jettisoned an “incomplete” nuclear bomb – one containing a chemical explosive and enriched uranium , but lacking the plutonium core necessary to initiate a fission explosion. But an official Congressional document from 1966 contradicts the idea of an incomplete bomb, stating that the crew jettisoned a complete bomb. A completed MK-15 is capable of a 1.7-3.8 Megaton explosion if detonated properly, creating a 20-30 kilometer thermal blast radius.

So where is the nuke now?
The current location of the MK-15 nuclear bomb is unknown, thanks to the passage of time and the twenty-three hurricanes and tropical storms that have hit the area since 1958.

Air Force retiree and Savannah local Derek Duke narrowed down the position of the bomb to an area the size of a football field in 2004, after spending his free time measuring ambient radiation while boating around the area, but he now believes his data is inconclusive. As of 2001, the United States Air Force believes the bomb is safe where it lies and poses little to no threat to local citizens or the ecosystem.

The condition of the bomb is an enigma — the outer metal alloy shell should be fine if it is resting in a coffin of silt. But if the bomb has been disturbed and came in contact with salt water, the metal would quickly erode, allowing the contents to seep out and distributing uranium into the water. Disturbing the bomb, if found, could also pose a danger to the recovery team if it is actually a complete nuclear bomb, containing the plutonium detonator.

Even if the abandoned MK-15 really is incomplete, some enriched uranium surrounded by four hundred pounds of TNT is essentially a dirty bomb — a dirty bomb resting just off the shore of a vibrant United States port. Recovering the bomb and the enriched uranium inside would be a coup for any nation looking to skip a few steps to becoming a nuclear power.

The top image is by T3rmin8tor on DeviantArt.
F-86 image courtesy of the USAF archives, with other images courtesy of the the United States Government, Tybee Bomb, and Google Maps. Sources linked within the article.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

Ephesians 5:18 says, ‘Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.” Paul doesn’t try to prove that drunkenness is incompatible with Christianity, he simply gives the command. Once a person becomes a Christian, he says goodbye to the life he once lived in drunken debauchery–the party life is to have no place in a believer’s life.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “John, are you going to lecture me on the evils of alcohol? That’s preaching to the choir!” Is it? One study I found said nearly 14 million Americans last year were classified as alcohol abusers or alcoholics–that’s about 1 out of every 13 adults. Millions more regularly engage in binge drinking or heavy drinking and over 50 percent of Americans report that one or more of their close relatives have a drinking problem. With figures like that, do you think some of those people might now attend your church? Were you one of those people?

I won’t lecture you on the dangers of alcohol — you’re no doubt painfully aware of the problem. Drunkenness causes violence, accidents, abuse, and indebtedness, and we pay millions of dollars in tax money to clean up the wreckage. Insobriety exacts a tremendous toll on our society, both directly and indirectly.

The Spirit and the Bottle

So if Christians are not to be drunk with wine, where do they find joy and happiness? The answer is in the second half of Ephesians 5:18: ‘Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit‘ (emphasis added). Your thrills, your exhilaration, and your happiness should be the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, not from being filled with wine.

You might be shocked by the language of that verse. It sounds like Paul is saying we should be drunk with the Holy Spirit. In fact, observers of the apostles exuberant behavior at Pentecost mistakenly concluded they had been dipping into the wineskins a little too early in the morning (see Acts 2:1-4, 13-18). But here’s the idea: Being filled with the Spirit results in behavior marked by joy, boldness, and a lack of inhibition. Even a mild person can become bold and unafraid when living under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

That sounds like what happens when a person gets drunk, doesn’t it? But Paul is actually making a contrast, not a comparison, between wine and the Holy Spirit. Wine controls a person completely and works evil in his heart and life. The Holy Spirit also controls completely, but He empowers you unto true righteousness. The Spirit’s influence provides divine fuel for a different, free, uninhibited life lived for God’s glory.

Be Filled

You’ll notice that Ephesians 5:18 has a positive command: “Be filled with the Spirit.” What does that mean? First, let me tell you what that doesn’t mean. Being filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean to be indwelt with, to be baptized in, or to be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul never says, “Be indwelt by the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, the Spirit already lives in you (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Paul never says, “Be baptized in the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, you were baptized in Him at your conversion (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Paul never says, “Be sealed with the Spirit.” If you’re a Christian, you’ve already been sealed with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

All three events occurred the moment you were saved.

Instead, Paul’s command has our sanctification in view. Though it sounds a little odd in English, the Greek verb means “be continually filled” or “be kept filled.” He is actually saying, “Be continually letting the Spirit of God — who is already in you — control you.” It isn’t a second work of grace, a one-time experience, or a step up to a higher level. It is the continual, ongoing experience of the Christian life.

Surrender and Submit

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means you are continually surrendering your will, mind, body, time, talents, and treasures — every area of your life — to His control. The context shows that every realm of your life will be affected when you are filled with the Spirit. Notice how the Spirit-filled person submits to others (5:21–6:9). The Spirit-filled wife submits to her husband. The Spirit-filled husband loves his wife. Spirit-filled children obey their parents. A Spirit-filled father doesn’t provoke his children to anger. A Spirit-filled employee works diligently for his employer. A Spirit-filled employer is fair with his employees. All those are manifestations of the Spirit-filled life.

“So,” you ask, “is this a ‘Let go and let God’ kind of thing?” Hardly. Look at Colossians 3:16 for the answer to the question, “How do I surrender?” It says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” The effect of the Word of Christ dwelling in you is an exact parallel to what happens when you are filled with the Spirit (see verses 16-23). It’s all there–singing, submission, love, obedience, gentle parenting, diligence, and fairness. Therefore, being filled with the Spirit is exactly the same thing as letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. As you study God’s Word, as it dwells in you richly, your thoughts become saturated with Christ. You become Christ-centered, Christ-conscious at all times–that’s what it is to be Spirit-filled.

Attitude Adjustment

We’ve already looked at the behavior of a Spirit-filled person, but where is the joy I mentioned earlier? Tucked between the command and the change in behavior is a very important comment on the attitudes of a Spirit-filled Christian. Ephesians 5:19-20 says, ‘Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ In those two verses, Paul is looking at the fruit of two attitudes that demonstrate vitality of the Christian life — joy and gratitude.

Joy and gratitude will characterize you when you are under the Holy Spirit’s control. Whether public or private, inward or outward, Spirit-induced joy produces singing that comes from the heart. To whom do you sing? You sing “to one another” and “to the Lord.” Keep that in mind the next time you sing in church. Your songs should not be a performance — they aren’t entertainment. Rather, they should be the sincere testimony of your joy in the Lord. When you express your joy in the Holy Spirit through singing, you bring pleasure to the Lord Himself.

Hand in hand with joy is thanksgiving (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). If ingratitude sours and darkens the soul, gratitude sweetens it and floods it with light. Thanksgiving is more than the act of saying thanks or sending a thank you note — it is an attitude of the heart. Without the attitude, the act is mere hypocrisy.

Spirit-produced joy and gratitude are indomitable. When Jesus said, “Your sorrow will be turned to joy,” He used the example of a woman giving birth to a child. Though the pain of childbirth is agonizing, when the child is born, the joy is both unequaled and unstoppable — nothing can drive it away. That’s the kind of change the Holy Spirit produces in everyone who lives under His control.

The Spirit-filled life is overflowing with gratitude, joy, right relationships, and good behavior — quite a contrast to those enslaved by alcohol. You may not be seeking your joy in drugs or alcohol, but are you seeking to be filled with the Spirit? His resources are immediately available and He desires to produce new life in you. What are you waiting for?

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Present day ignorance of history goes hand in hand with disobedience to God’s Word. Consider these facts of history :

1. Historically, every Christian, every pastor, and every church which sought to reduce their doctrinal base in order to enlarge their fellowship ultimately destroyed their testimony for Christ, went into decline and disappeared.
2. Historically, every single doctrinal truth in Holy Scripture was either supportive of the gospel of Christ or was a fruit of the gospel. Every single one. So to lightly discard even one of those truths, or to consider it non-essential was to threaten the gospel of Christ. Anyone who sought to reduce his doctrines to an irreducible minimum introduced a poison into the church that ultimately destroyed its message of salvation.
3. Historically, the spiritual growth of a man of God involved, not a reducing of his doctrinal base, but an increase. As his repertoire of Bible truth increased, so could his spiritual depth increase. Whenever this process was reversed, for whatever reason, his ministry died from the inside out.
4. Historically, whenever the size of a church or a ministry became the measure of its worth, those in leadership inevitably embraced pragmatism. No longer was the Lord Jesus Christ the Head of that church. No longer was the Holy Scripture the sole rule of faith and order. Accountants and bean counters and numbers of noses became the rulers of the church. And when the true Head was removed from the church it always died.

With these in mind, we read the following quotes:
“There is AN IRREDUCIBLE BODY OF TRUTH (e.g., who God is, what His Word is, what He says about salvation, the local New Testament church). There are a number of things that are in THIS IRREDUCIBLE BODY OF TRUTH. And I believe that all over the world that God will raise up circles of friends. They have the truth; people need the Lord; and they are going to work together…This should happen in every state, on every continent, among every people group” (Clarence Sexton, “On the High Road with a High Vision of God,” YouTube.com, April 9, 2012). But God says, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” – The Lord Jesus Christ “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” – The Apostle Paul.

God is not interested in an irreducible minimum. He wants us to preach the indispensable maximum.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

 Traditional family groups are disappointed that the Campbell’s Soup Company is sponsoring a homosexual event in Philadelphia this week.

The American Family Association of Pennsylvania‘s Diane Gramley says the company has “tainted its clean-cut image.”

“Equality Forum is a homosexual event that glorifies same-sex ‘marriage,’ is going to have a panel discussion on how homosexuals can adopt, and it also is going to be talking about how the homosexual activists can go into schools to give the message, ‘gay is okay,’” Gramley details. The forum is also “working towards getting transgenders into the military” and on how transgendered people can work to be better understood by the public.

But the AFA of Pennsylvania president says those aspects are contrary to Campbell’s image.

“When I think of Campbell’s Soup, I think of the Campbell’s Soup kids with their advertisement that portrays a pro-family, a family-friendly company, which is what they want to portray to the public,” she suggests.

So Gramley is encouraging people nationwide to go the company’s website and send a message to company officials urging them to stay neutral in the culture war and not sponsor homosexuality.

Meanwhile, she notes that other companies provide comparable soup products.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

(ONN) – Ophthalmologist Peter Francis has received permanent resident status in the U.S. on the basis of the country’s interest in clinical researchers. In 2002, while still in Britain, he won the National Research prize for “Best up and coming medical researcher in the U.K.,” and as of late, he has been working in Oregon on a pilot experiment funded by two federal grants.

But Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council (FRC) says that money was given because of the researcher’s fabricated results.

“He puts in a couple of grant proposals to the National Institutes of Health [NIH] where he claims that he’s gotten these great results essentially restoring sight to blind rats using embryonic stem cells,” Prentice details.

But as it turns out, says the FRC spokesman, Francis never did those experiments; and in fact “he made the whole thing up.”

“It came to light this was all a fraud. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and resigned his appointment,” the FRC life sciences senior fellow reports. “In the meantime, all the NIH finally agreed to with him was a slap on the wrist. Basically, for the next two years, anything he writes, somebody else has to take a look at to just verify that he actually did an experiment, or so on.”

Prentice believes the NIH “really ought to nail” Francis and anyone else who makes up research and commits fraud to get a grant. He also points out that embryonic stem-cell research, which kills a tiny human being, has produced no results. Adult stem cells, however, have produced dramatic and positive results.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

 (Wall Street Journal) – Jim Bakker, the disgraced 1980s televangelist whose “PTL Club” television empire was laid asunder by dual sex and money scandals, is out of prison and renouncing the prosperity gospel he once preached.

Of the $569 billion that churchgoers and others are expected to donate to Christian causes this year world-wide, about 6%, $35 billion, will end up in the hands of money launderers, embezzlers, tax evaders or unscrupulous ministers living too high on the hog, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass.

So how can you make sure your donation goes to the right place and what else should you consider before giving to your church or other house of worship?

Be a Doubting Thomas

One of William Riley’s clients recently called the Fort Worth, Texas, financial adviser wondering if she should donate to a new church in her community. She was already a regular contributor to her own church and she was solicited from her church directory to provide financial help with the new organization. The client took Mr. Riley’s advice and let him contact the person requesting the gift. When Mr. Riley started asking about the church’s mission and how it planned to use the funds, the solicitor ended the phone call.

“We never heard from him again,” says Mr. Riley.

Whether it’s a new or established church, donors have a right to ask how their donation will be used. But churches, unlike many other nonprofit organizations, aren’t required to file 501(c)(3) tax forms, which make it easy for donors to look up information outlining finances and management. So it’s important for donors to ask questions and request to see the church’s audited financial statements, says Laura Fredricks, a New York fundraising consultant.

While it probably won’t be appropriate for donors to walk up to the head of their church and “demand to know where the money is going,” there are other places they can turn, says Randy Wolverton, a retired FBI agent and forensic accountant in Kansas City, Mo.

Members may want to start with their church’s finance committee and ask to see the church’s financial reports or attend a finance-committee meeting. They also could ask about the church’s procedures for collecting, depositing and accounting for the money.

“One person shouldn’t have complete control of the money,” says Mr. Wolverton. Churches should have professional accounting systems to help ensure donations are properly received and disbursed. Organizations lacking such safeguards are more vulnerable to abuse, he says.

Defensive or evasive behavior and an unwillingness to answer questions on the part of the minister or whoever is in charge of the church’s finances may indicate funds aren’t being used as the donor intended, says Victoria Collins, a certified financial planner in Corona Del Mar, Calif. She also recommends that donors see if their own pastors and other ministers donate to the church. “Leaders should take their own giving seriously,” she says.

“Shun manipulation and run if you hear ‘God told me how to spend your money and don’t ask questions,’ ” says Calvin Edwards, an Atlanta-based philanthropic adviser.

Provide for Family

When one of Steve Blankenship’s clients wanted to increase a tithe, the Grapevine, Texas, certified financial planner suggested waiting. While the couple were very committed to their church, they were also putting themselves in financial jeopardy by racking up debt by tithing on a credit card they weren’t able to pay in full every month, he says.

So Mr. Blankenship complimented the couple on their generosity and turned to the Bible for counsel. “I argued that the debtor is a slave to the lender, which the Bible clearly calls into question,” says Mr. Blankenship, referencing Proverbs (22:7).

Beware of easy giving. Mr. Blankenship says electronic giving, whether it be automatically charging pledges to a credit card or texting a donation, can make it easier for donors to keep up with pledges. But they should be mindful of their overall financial situation so they don’t put themselves in debt.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

World-renowned Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is under fire from several biology professors at Emory University, where he’s scheduled to give the commencement address.

They wrote a letter to the school newspaper after learning Carson does not believe in evolution,…..

Dr. Ben Carson’s Beliefs On Evolution Stir Controversy At Emory University

About 500 Darwinist alumni, students, and faculty from Emory decided to pile on by signing the letter.

Carson is the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, by President George W. Bush in 2008. Hopkins boasts 17 Nobel prizes in medicine/physiology and researchers associated with the university were awarded Nobel prizes in Chemistry (Dan Schectman) and Physics (Adam Riess) in 2011.

Johns Hopkins has shown toleration over the years toward their researchers who were creationists (like Lee Spetner) or those who question Darwinism (like Paul McHugh) by not taking sides in the controversy. Why should evolution be a big deal, it seems science and medicine proceed just fine without it. It’s nice to see that no such witch hunt is going on at Johns Hopkins like the witch hunt at Emory. The people at Hopkins have so far shown they have better things to do than conduct inquisitions of people’s personal beliefs. Too bad other institutions can’t follow that example.

It is also evident that even Darwinists would be hard pressed to find a better person to uphold an example of perseverance than creationist Ben Carson.

Carson recalled growing up in Boston and Detroit and living in poverty.

“Large multifamily dwellings, boarded-up windows, sirens, gangs, murders, rats and roaches, the whole nine yards. Anything you can imagine, that’s what it was,” Carson said.

And a source of even greater pain for Carson was how he was treated at school.

“When I was a kid, I didn’t think that I was very smart,” Carson admitted.

He was failing in school and his temper was out of control.

With his mother’s love and encouragement, he healed his temper and gained the confidence to get to the top of his class.

Gooding portrays Carson as an adult attending Yale and Johns Hopkins University.

“When I think about where I came from to where I am now, it’s kind of mind boggling,” Carson said.

Now he is a celebrated neurosurgeon, a leader in his field.

“Everybody, no matter who they are, have problems in life. And we’ll continue to have problems in life. You get to decide whether those problems become something that weakens you or something that strengthens you,” Carson said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500185_162-4777661.html

PS

I don’t believe in evolution…

Ben Carson

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Don’t look back.

That is one of the worst pieces of advice you’ll ever hear. Naturally, you hear it all the time. “Positive thinkers” and pop psychologists love it. Forget the past, they say. You can’t change it, so why dwell on it? Move on. Sunshine will follow the rain. Tomorrow will bring a new you. The next shot will fall. Insert your own cliché here.

“Waste not fresh tears over old griefs,” recommended Euripides, the great Greek dramatist, more than 2,400 years ago. Now that’s good advice. But regret is a response to memory, not memory itself. To forget our past is to forget who we are — individually and collectively.

Yes, the Apostle Paul urged believers to lay aside the past in their pursuit of knowing God: “(F)orgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14). And he’s right. We should not obsess about past sins and failures, but look to God, rejoice in His patient mercy and relentlessly follow Him toward glory.

But Paul never forgot where he came from, what he had thought as a Pharisee and what he had done as a one-time enemy of the Gospel. He never forgot the long, dangerous, often discouraging road he had walked as an early apostle of Christ. And he never forgot the many ways God’s grace had pulled him from the pit to the mountaintop. Those experiences forged Paul into the man he eventually became. They stayed with him, informing his future attitudes, decisions and actions.

“The past is never dead,” William Faulkner wrote. “It’s not even past.”

Nor should it be. The Lord gave us memories for a reason. Even the painful ones. The Divine Physician has a way of healing us without removing our memories entirely. If we forget the pain, how can we minister to the hurting? If we forget the darkness, how can we lead others toward light?

Memories are precious things. As Saul Bellow observed, “They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” Who are you without the memory of who you have been, what you have thought and done, the people you have known? That’s why memory-killing afflictions such as Alzheimer’s are so heartbreaking, both for the people who experience them and their loved ones. Alzheimer’s is a thief that steals whole chunks of who we are.

A recent movie, “The Iron Lady,” is a meditation on memory. It is about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and won actress Meryl Streep her third Academy Award. It might be Streep’s greatest performance in a long line of them. The film itself, however, has been criticized for focusing not on Thatcher the world-changing political leader of the 1970s and ’80s but on Thatcher the lioness in winter, elderly and infirm, confused, engaging in imaginary conversations with her late husband, Denis.

I found it deeply moving. Streep as Thatcher reflects on past events large and small: a girlhood working for her grocer father, meeting her future husband, challenging a male-dominated political world as a young member of Parliament, motherhood, triumphs and defeats, war and terrorism, national turmoil and progress, doubts, questions, resolution.

Looking back is an inward journey we all must take as our earthly lives approach the farther shore. Memory helps us along the way.

Memory is a gift from God. More than that, it is a command and a sacrament. “Do this in remembrance of Me,” Christ told His disciples as He introduced the Lord’s Supper on the last night He spent with them (Luke 22:19-20).

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits,” David sang (Psalm 103:2). Remembering who God is and the glorious things He has done is part and parcel of worshipping Him.

In his great farewell address to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses thundered:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Why go to such lengths? To remember — from one day to the next, from parent to child, from generation to generation and age to age — who God is and what He has done. Review the tragic history of the ancient Israelites to see what happened when they forgot. Remembering God is as important as obeying Him; indeed, it is part of obedience.

Look back. Remember. Praise God for His marvelous grace and mercy. Then look ahead without fear or regret.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

Verse 3 says, “Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” And then we are to be protected like little children. Verse 6 says, “Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in it would be better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and that he were drown in the depth of the sea.” And then we are to be cared for like little children. Verse 10 says “Take heed that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For the angles are always beholding the face of my Father who is in heaven.” And the Son of man that we talked about cares for them and the Father in verses 12-14 as well. So we then are to enter the kingdom like children. We are to be protected like children. We are to be cared for like children. And then in our last couple of looks at this very significant chapter, we know that we are to be disciplined like children.

Verses 15 and following tell us that we are to be disciplined. When one of us sins, he or she is to be approached by the others for correction, for restoration. Now as we come to verse 21, we will note that we are to be forgiven like children. We are to be forgiven like children. There’s a great sense of tolerance with children, because we understand their weakness. We understand their ignorance. We understand their inabilities. Being childlike is indicating that we’re going to fail. There are going to be times when we do the wrong things. We’re still in the process of maturing, of growing up, of ordering our behavior. But when we do sin, and after discipline has been enacted we also are to be forgiven just as children are to be forgiven.

People can rather easily hold grudges against adults, but it’s somewhat abnormal to hold them against children. We tend to forgive children rather readily. Adults we have difficulty forgiving and we need then to remember the teaching of this passage that believers are to be treated like children for in the spiritual sense we are and we need the same kind of gracious continuing forgiveness that a child does. Now forgiveness is a great, great virtue. I really believe that it is the key to the unity of the church. It’s the key to love. It’s the key to meaningful relationships. It’s what constantly tears down the barriers that try through sin to be built up to separate us from one another to wall us off to make us bitter and angry and vengeful.

Forgiveness is a tremendous concept. In fact, in Proverbs 19:11, it says, “It is a man’s glory to pass over a transgression.” In other words, if you want to see man at his best, he is at his best in his ability to forgive. In overlooking a transgression, in forgetting a sin and an evil. Ephesians Chapter 4, verse 32 takes the thought even a step further for Christians and it says, “We are to be forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us.”

Based upon the fact that we have received the forgiveness of God in Christ we are to offer forgiveness to others. Colossians 3:13 has the same thought in these words, “forgiving one another even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” It is the glory of a man that he should forgive another. And particularly for a Christian who has been forgiven so much by God through Christ. And if, in fact, it is the best of men in terms of their character quality to forgive and if it is that we as Christians have been forgiven everything, how eager we should be to be able to forgive others.

If you look in the Old Testament and there is an exalted perspective on forgiveness, we all remember with great sense of respect the wonderful story of Joseph who forgave his brothers in Genesis Chapter 50. I don’t know if you remember how that Chapter ends, but it ends close to the end, it says in verse 20, “as for you, you thought evil against me,” says Joseph to his brothers, “but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save many people alive. Now therefore fear ye not I will nourish you and your little ones and he comforted them and spoke kindly unto them.” And they had thrown him in a pit and sold him into slavery and treated him as if he were dead. He forgave them everything.

And I think we all also with great respect remember the tender forgiveness and sensitivity that David exercised towards Saul. Saul who had spent himself trying to murder David and when David could easily have thrust his sword through the sleeping Saul, he did not do that. He had a heart of forgiveness. We find that express in 1 Samuel 24, in verse 7. We find David again a model of forgiveness. Forgiving Nabal his evil for the sake of Abigail his pleading wife, in 1 Samuel 25. And then, of course, that very familiar text in 2 Samuel 19 where Shimei had cursed David and David’s friends said devastate the man, destroy the man, kill the man, instead, David forgave the man. Forgiveness is a glory of a man. It is the highest human virtue. You show me an honorable man. You show me a man with real character and I’ll show you a man who can forgive. You show me a man who carries a bitterness deep down in his soul and I’ll show you a man without character.

You show me a person who cannot release some vengeful, bitter, antagonistic, hateful attitude towards somebody and I’ll show you a man who knows not either the glory of a man nor understands the forgiveness of God to him. It is the best of a man to forgive. Listen to this, because it is the heart of God to forgive, and when man forgives he radiates that which is true of the image of God. Forgiveness is so basic to God’s heart that it certainly should be basic to the heart of God’s children. Coming at it another way, you might as well learn to forgive because people are going to need it.

And may I add, so are you. Children of all people need forgiveness and we are children. We’re weak, we’re ignorant, we’re selfish, we’re prone to disobey and we need forgiveness frequently. We are such children. Now our Lord has just concluded a section on disciplining sinners. And he follows it up masterfully with a section on forgiving them. You remember in 2 Corinthians Chapter 2 there was a man in the Corinthian assembly who had sinned. And this particular man had been disciplined by the assembly of believers and Paul says to them in 2 Corinthians 2:6, “sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority.” In other words, you’ve sufficiently punished the man. You’ve sufficiently made the point. You’ve done what needed to be done in terms of bringing to bear or rebuke on his sin. So now rather in verse 7, you need to forgive him and comfort him lest such a one should be swallowed up with over much sorrow.

“Confirm,” it says in verse 8, “your love toward him.” And then he goes on to say, “if you don’t do this,” in verse 11, “Satan’s going to get an advantage of you for we’re not ignorant of his devices.” And one of his devices is to generate a bitter Spirit and unforgiving heart. And we all need to learn to forgive because we all need to be forgiven and because God has forgiven us. It is the best of a man to forgive and it is the best, if I may say so, of God to forgive. For it is the expression of His loving nature.

So we see then in this passage beginning in verse 21 a transition into the matter of forgiveness. And I am not only going to talk on it this week, but I’m going to also spend next week with the same theme, because it is very important. It may even drift over to a third one. I have a lot of things that I want to say out of the text. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take me to say them. And that’s one of the problem in never having taught a passage prior. You don’t quite know what the Lord’s going to do in the process.

But let’s look at an outline. First of all, in verse 21, the inquiry about forgiveness. The inquiry about forgiveness. Now after all of this discussion of discipline and how we are to confront the sinner and rebuke the sinner, restore the sinner, and all that, Peter asked a very insightful question. “Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?” It’s a good question. See Peter knows the tendency of men. You know why he knows it? Because he knows himself. And he knew how many times he needed to be forgiven. He also is talking out of the context of his Jewish background where there were certain hard lines drawn in relation to forgiveness. And he is saying in this whole matter of a person sinning and being restore, you know, the problem Lord is going to be, they’re going to do that and we’re going to restore them and they’re going to go right out and do it again.

Or they’re going to do something else. I mean, how many times do we keep on forgiving them? He could anticipate the inability of human kind to turn their life all the way around and not sin any more. So he could see you correct this thing and maybe it’ll happen later or something like it will happen later and you’re going to be stuck forgiving this guy over and over. How many times do we do this? Notice the phrase, “then came Peter.” They are sitting together in the house of Capernaum where our Lord is teaching with the little infant in His arms, and Peter leans forward, comes close to Jesus. Maybe there’s a little time interval from the former teaching to this one. We don’t know, but he steps forward, comes close to Jesus and he really has a burning question in his mind.

And may I add just as a footnote, not related to this particular text that we are greatly indebted to Peter for a lot things. One of them is that he asked questions. God bless people who ask questions because people who ask questions of the right people get answers. And sometimes we all get to enjoy the answer. Peter asked questions. His quick tongue and his inquisitive mind did get him into trouble, but on the other hand, he elicited out of the Lord a lot of profound teaching, didn’t he? Because he asked questions.

So Peter had heard about the matter of discipline and at this point he’s saying now look Lord, let’s say we go after this guy and we bring him back and we restore him and we’ve even gained our brother, as it says at the end of verse 15, how many times do we do that if he sins again or sins the same sin? Does forgiveness have a limit? Did you get that? That’s really the salient question of the whole text. Does forgiveness have a limit? Do you say to somebody, look man, you have gone too far. I mean, there are some things that I can forgive, that I can’t. Or I have forgiven you already five times for that. I mean, that’s it. You have gone beyond the limit. That’s what Peter’s really asking. And notice he says how often shall my brother sin against me? Remember what we said about that earlier? The against me does not mean necessarily that the sin was directly against you in the physical sense or in the sense of touching your life personally, purposely, directly.

But that the sin was against you either directly or what? Or indirectly. In other words, all sin in the assembly affects the assembly. But the idea that Peter adds the against me really involves you in a situation where you feel the lack of forgiveness or you feel the hurt and the pain that wants you to say that’s enough out of you, I’m not going to forgive that. I’ve heard people actually say I will never forgive that person for what they’ve done to me.

I had a man confront me not long ago and he cursed me and called me every name he could think of and he’s a man in the ministry. You’d know him if I said his name. He called me every name he could think of because he has carried vengeance in his heart for me for five years over something that he didn’t like about me. Now whether or not he was right or wrong about what he didn’t like isn’t even an issue. What is an issue his anger, his bitterness, and his lack of forgiveness. He said to me, “I will never forget what you said.” Now that’s just the very antithesis, both of the glory of a man and the heart of God.

And so Peter is saying look if it does come against me and it’s so close to me that I might on a human level have good reason to maintain an attitude of unforgiveness, how many times do I forgive him? And then he adds at the end of verse 21, seven times? And you know, he’s waiting for congratulations. He’s waiting for the Lord to say “marvelous Peter. You are so magnanimous.” I think many people, most people, find it hard to forgive one time, really.

Louis the XII said, “Nothing smells so sweet as the dead body of your enemy.” That maybe articulated something of most people’s feelings. Forgiveness is very foreign to man’s nature, that’s why we’re all somewhat shocked when we see Jesus dying on the cross and people are spitting on Him. They’ve shoved a crown of thorns into Hs brown. They’ve hammered nails through His limbs. And He’s hanging naked with flies and blood as a cloak before the whole watching world and He looks down and says, “Father,” what, “forgive them they don’t know what they’re doing.”

And that’s why we’re shocked in the 7^thChapter of Acts in the 60^thverse to see Stephen crushed beneath the bloody stones off a ledge where he’s been thrown as they plummet them into his body to crush out the life and he looks up and says, “lay not this sin to their charge.” And I think the profundity of Stephen’s testimony affected on in particular who happened to be there holding the coats of the stoners by the name of Saul. But God’s people are to be like Christ. And God’s people are to be like Stephen, especially with their fellow Christians. We are to hold nothing against a person who has wronged us, no matter how they’ve wronged us and no matter how intimately we are wronged.

God has been wronged. Did you hear the Psalm I read this morning? David said in Psalm 51, “Against thee, thee only, the only God have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.” And he cries out to God against whom he has sinned and what is God’s heart toward David? Forgiveness. And you’ve done the same. You’ve sinned against God. Every sin you’ve ever sinned in your whole life was sinned against God. It’s as if you walked into His holy presence in the middle of heaven and sinned the sin in front of the throne in His face. It’s defiant. Every sin you’ve ever sinned, you’ve sinned in the face of God. And He’s forgiven you.

Are you better than God that you can’t forgive what God forgives? And you don’t even know the full evil of sin. For two reasons, one, you’re not omniscient and two, you’re not so holy that you can understand its utter sinfulness. So the inquiry, how many times do I forgive, seven times? And Peter really thought he was being generous. Now that leads from the inquiry about forgiveness to the extent of forgiveness. Verse 21 again, “Peter says, seven times. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until,” what, “seventy times seven.” Now what did Peter have in mind when he said seven times? He was thinking he was so generous. What was he thinking about? Let me tell you something, Jewish tradition says you forgive a person three times, that’s the limit.

And you can see why they said that. Let me take you back in your Bible to Amos and if you can’t find Amos, don’t worry about it. Just listen.

Amos 1:3, “Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away its punishment.”Verse 6, “Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Gaza and for four, I will not turn away its punishment.” Verse 9, “Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away its punishment.” Verse 11, “Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away its punishment.” Verse 13, “Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four, I will not turn away its punishment.”

Now you find a similar statement made in Job 33:29. And so the Jews concluded then that the three times you could be forgiven. When you did it the fourth time, you got the blast of God’s divine judgment. So they said that this, and of course they misinterpreted the passage, that this justified the limit of three times for forgiveness. They said this, if three transgressions fills up the measure of God’s forgiveness, men can’t go beyond God. So after three times that’s it. And you read things like Rabbi Joseph Benihana who said, “He who begs forgiveness from his neighbor must not do so more than three times.” Or Rabbi Joseph Ben yehuda who said it, “But man commits an offense once, they forgive him. If he commits an offense the second time, they forgive him. If he commits an offense the third time, they forgive him. The fourth they do not forgive him.”

So doubtless when Peter said he thought seven times, he was really going beyond his own tradition. And he was being generous. He probably thought he would be commended and he no doubt had some kind of a smirk of self-congratulation on his face, thinking how generous he had been. And I might add that in his favor his three years with Jesus had had some impact on him. He had no doubt picked up the merciful generous, gracious, kind, forgiving spirit of Jesus. And that’s why he knew that Jesus would go far beyond at least twice and one again the tradition of his own people. So he did see that Jesus would certainly love and forgive in a way beyond the narrow kind of limit of Judaism.

He had in the sense advanced beyond the men of his own nation and the Lord was about to lead him even further so that he would understand fully what grace is and that’s why the Lord says in verse 22, “seventy times seven.” Now that would take his breath away. I mean, it would just literally dumbfound the man, because its so out of proportion with the magnanimity that he had designed in his own mind when he said seven. The number is so large that you just would lose count. I mean you don’t really count up 490 times. It’s questionable whether that would even happen.

Now there’s nothing really binding. You don’t keep a book and say all right that’s 491. You know, you’re finished. Jesus just picks up on Peter’s numeral and multiplies it by ten. And by seven again. He just plays with the number that Peter suggested and he’s really saying there’s no limit to it. There’s kind of an interesting comparison that as I was studying this, I read in Genesis 4:24 where it talks about vengeance being brought seventy-seven times. And here it says the Lord says, forgiveness is seventy times seven. So whatever base there would be even for legitimate vengeance there’s an infinitely greater one for gracious forgiveness.

Our Lord is really calling for an indefinite number. And just to show you that, let me have you turn in your Bible to a passage that is…if you think this is mind-boggling, look at this one. Luke 17:4, and this is Luke’s insights into basically the same event. Back in verse 3, “Take heed to yourselves if thy brother trespasses against thee, rebuke him. And if he repents forgive him.” In other words, when he repents, you give him the full forgiveness. “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I repent, thou shalt forgive him.”

And again he just plays off this same number and if we combine Luke with Matthew, what we’ve got is, am I to forgive seven times? No, forgive him seventy times seven if he sins seven times a day. In other words, it’s just hyperbole. The point is it’s unlimited forgiveness. John Wesley said, “If this be Christianity, where do Christians live?” No limit and no boundary to forgiveness. Very serious matter. Look at James 2:13 for a moment. It says, “For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shown no mercy.” Did you get that? He shall have judgment without mercy from God that hath shown no mercy.

Very important truth. We are called to mercy. Back in Matthew 5, do you remember the wonderful Beatitude in verse 7? “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” We’ll see more about that in a few moments. Now the thought here is this. The extent of forgiveness is unending, limitless. If it were 490 times a day, a person should be forgiven. So don’t parade your vengeance and don’t parade your bitterness and your anger and your unforgiving spirit as if it were virtue. It is the very opposite of a virtue. It is not even the glory of humans let alone a manifestation of the heart of one who has in him the spirit of God.

So the inquiry about forgiveness leads to Jesus’ statement about the extent of forgiveness. Now I want to talk for a few moments about the affect of forgiveness, the affect. And to do that, I want to draw you to Matthew Chapter 6. We’re going to leave our passage there for a moment and go back to Matthew Chapter 6, because I need to bring into this particular passage the lesson in Chapter 6. Now we are called to forgive and I’m going to give you several reasons why and I went through these back in our study of the disciples prayer in Matthew 6. First of all, we are called to forgive because of the example of Jesus Christ, Ephesians 4:32. “For we have been forgiven by God for Christ’s sake and so we ought to forgive each other.”

So we are called to forgive, because Christ gave us that example. Secondly, we are called to forgive because it is the best of man as I said, Proverbs 19:11. Thirdly, we are called to forgive because it is the character of saints to do that. That’s part of Christian virtue. Fourthly, we are called to forgive in order to free our conscience. From the root of bitterness that Hebrews talks about. Fifthly, we are to forgive in order to deliver ourselves from Satan. 2 Corinthians says he’ll get an advantage of us if we don’t do that. And sixthly, we are to forgive in order to deliver ourselves from the divine chastening. And did you get that? Those are very important things.

We must forgive because that’s the example of Christ. We must forgive because that’s the glory of man. We must forgive because that’s the character of saints. We must forgive because it frees our conscience from a root of bitterness. We must forgive because it delivers us from Satan’s advantage. We must forgive because it frees us from the chastening of God. And one more, we must forgive or else we will not be forgiven. Did you get that? We must forgive or else we will not be forgiven ourselves.

James 2:13, I just read it to you. “The one who shows no mercy will receive none.” Look at 6:12 of Matthew. “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” And then the commentary on that is in verse 14. “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Now listen that is a monumental statement about forgiveness, because if you don’t forgive, you don’t receive forgiveness.

Now you say is he talking to Christians? Yes, this is a believers prayer. If you’re not a believer, you’re not even in this prayer because you can’t say in verse 9, the very address of the prayer which is what? Our Father. You say in what sense then can a Christian have unforgiven sin? If you don’t forgive someone else as a Christian, two things take place. Number one, you cannot know the forgiveness of God in terms of communion, fellowship, joy, all that ought to be there between you and the Lord and secondly, you will know his chastening, because God when there’s an outstanding sin account and He has no parentally forgiven that is going to bring to bear on your life certain chastening to refine that unrefined area.

Do you understand? So there’s two sides. When you don’t forgive someone else, you don’t experience the full joy of your salvation and secondly, you will experience divine pressure and chastening. So you examine your life. Are you looking at your life and saying I don’t see the kind of joy I ought to see in my life? I don’t have the kind of fulfillment spiritually. I don’t seem to have the power of God in my life. On the other hand, it seems as though I’m always being chastened, I’m always struggling, there’s always hassles in my life. I’ve examined my life. I don’t know any moral sins. I don’t know this or that. Then you backtrack and find out if, in fact, there isn’t somewhere in your heart something for which you have never forgiven a person. Some grudge you hold, some bitterness there because if you can’t forgive, you’ll never experience the forgiveness of God and that’s what this is saying.

And though you’ll die and go to heaven because transactionally your sins are paid for in Christ, they’re forgiven on the books. You can’t experience the fullness of that because you won’t forgive. Now this is not some isolated truth. You saw it in James 2:13. You hear it again in the disciples prayer and in case you’re still unconvinced, listen to Mark 11:25. “And when you stand praying forgive if you have anything against any that your Father also who’s in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive neither will your Father who’s in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

There it is again, same thing, Mark 11:25 and 26. So it’s a very important truth. In verse 12 we ought to note something, Matthew 6. “Forgive us our debts.” The Greek says, “as we forgave our debtors.” That’s very important, because it puts our forgiveness before God’s forgiveness. You forgive us God as we forgave. When we take care of forgiveness then God keeps the channel of His own blessed forgiveness flowing. So you’re maybe thinking of 1 John 1:9, “As we confess our sins, He’s faithful and just to forgive and keep on cleansing.” You know, that’s the life of the Christian who keeps confessing. God keeps forgiving and cleansing, but only when we forgive others. That puts a wall up if we don’t do that.

Oswald Sanders said, “Jesus deals with us as we deal with others. He measures us by the yardstick we use on others.” The prayer is not forgive us because we forgive others, but forgive us even as we have forgiven others. Forgiveness then is basic to being forgiven. So what is the effect of forgiveness. The effect of forgiveness is when you forgive others, what happens? God forgives you. You say what does it mean when God forgives me? It means I can experience the fullness of fellowship and I take myself out of the place of chastening into the place of blessing.

By the way, forgive us our debts, the debts there are spiritual debts and they refer to sin and that’s because verse 14 says trespass, so equate the debts in the trespasses. And we know in the other record of this instruction and prayer the word trespass appears. So it is our sins and we are literally to hurl them away. That’s what the verb means. Hurling away the sins of others against us that ours may be hurled away. Now go back to Matthew Chapter 5 in verse 7, “Blessed are the merciful for the shall obtain mercy.” That’s the same principle, isn’t it?

It’s exactly the same principle. If you want mercy when you sin from the Lord, then you better give mercy to other people. You know something? Think of it this way. I just thought of this in terms of a concise statement. You’re very like God. You’re very like God when you forgive. Aren’t you? Very like Him. Want to be like God? Everybody says I want to be Godly. Well, could I suggest to you that godliness may not be memorizing a thousand verses as much as it would be forgiving. I mean, there ought to be the fruit of that memorization. Godliness is forgiving, because you’re very like God when you do that. That’s the stuff of true spirituality.

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” I think that’s a statement of fact about a believer. I believe that people in God’s kingdom are merciful. When we studied that Beatitude, we said that believing people are merciful, because they’ve experienced mercy. So if you’re not, you’re actually contradicting your own nature. I mean, you’re fighting against who you are in Christ. You have been forgiven. And you become a forgiver because you understand that forgiveness, but it’s very possible as a Christian that you can get into a time of disobedience in your life where you fail to forgive others and you’re really violating the very proof of your salvation.

If you want to tell a Christian, just look for someone who knows how to forgive because he’s been forgiven. True forgiveness of the sinner from God I think breaks the person down. It gives him a heart of forgiveness toward others. If you’re really a Christian and you’ve really been forgiven then you’re going to understand forgiveness. And if you don’t understand that at all, it’s questionable whether you’ve ever really experienced it. Let me take you to another passage. Same Chapter, Matthew 5, verse 21. “You’ve heard that it was said by them of old,” in other words He says to the Jews this is your tradition. That little statement, you have heard that it was said by them of old, which repeats itself in the Chapter is an identification of their Jewish tradition. Your tradition says thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment.

In other words, their tradition said don’t kill somebody because you might get put in jail. I mean, that was basically it, very shallow. Don’t kill somebody, because if you do, you might be in danger of being put in jail. There’s no moral issue here, just make sure you don’t get thrown in jail. So that’s why you don’t kill. “But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause,” without it being a holy cause, “shall be in danger of judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca,” that by the way is an untranslatable epithet of malicious verbiage. You whatever brainless idiot. That kind of thing. It’s more than just saying it in gist, it’s saying with venom.

When you say that, you’re in danger of the counsel for whosoever shall say thou fool, you morous, you…it’s a mocking abusive calling of someone a moronic individual. You’ll be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, your going to come worship God and remember that your brother is anything against you, leave your gift before the altar and go your way and be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

Why? Because you’re not going to know what worship is. You can’t commune with God. You can’t fellowship with God until you’ve resolved that forgiveness attitude. It’s the same thing again. First reconciliation, then worship. First we forgive, then we’re forgiven. And so we need to be called to examine our own lives. Are you like God? Your heart eager to forgive. We all get wronged, directly and indirectly. Is your heart free to forgive no matter how close that wrong may be. No matter how deeply it penetrates you.

For me just as a personal testimony, for me the deepest pains come when people speak evil against me and want to destroy my reputation. I hear about things that are just unbelievable that are supposed to be true about me. Just unbelievable. And those are the things that pain me the most deeply. Untrue criticisms and allegations and accusations and I find that those become for me the test of a forgiving heart. And I asked God to give me the grace to forgive. I don’t want to carry a grudge, a bitterness for five seconds. And so eagerly when I hear that, am I anxious to offer up a prayer. Oh God, put in me the heart of forgiveness so that I may commune with You in the fullness of fellowship and joy and not experience the chastening that comes when you don’t forgive me. And may I remember that for everyone who sins against me, I have multiplied times sins against you. And you have always forgiven. And at no point in time has any of my sin caused me to forfeit my eternal life. And nor should anyone else’s sin cause them to forfeit my love and my mercy toward them.

And having done that then you seek to pursue the restoration on the fellowship level that you may have joy. And having done that, you demonstrate the true heart of forgiveness by giving back to that person something of great value and it may be yourself entrusted into their care. Well, let’s pray.

Our Father, we thank You that we’ve been able to come to Your word this morning and expose our hearts again to its powerful truth. We all need to be forgiven. We need the people in our house to forgive us, our wives, husbands, our kids. We need the people that work with every day to forgive us. We need the people in our Bible studies and our church family to forgive us because we are children. We are short of perfection. We’re weak, ignorant, undisciplined in so many ways, prone to disobey, self-willed. It isn’t a question of which of us has sinned in need of forgiveness. It’s only a question of what were our sins. For we have all sinned even since we embraced Christ. And so the church must be a forgiving assembly, a forgiving people, who eagerly give that they may eagerly receive the forgiveness of God. May we know Lord that full rich joyous fellowship. May we know the blessedness of being spared chastening because we have forgiven others.

May we demonstrate our redemption. May we be the living illustrations of blessed are the merciful for they show that they have obtained mercy. May we be to others as You are to us. Father may we never come to worship to bring a gift with an unforgiving heart to a brother, but first deal with forgiveness and then with worship. And when we have followed the path of discipline and gained a brother and when we have forgiven and restored the fellowship with that brother or sister and they sin again the same sin against us, may we forgive them again and again and again, without limit as You in grace forgive us without limit.

Never is there a limit to our forgiveness for never is there a limit to Yours. And then we will be like God. Then we will be restored to His character. Then we will walk as Jesus walked, who when He was reviled, reviled not again. When He was mocked and blasphemed and murdered said “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Like Stephen when he was mistreated, abused, stoned to death, all undeservedly. May we say don’t blame them for this. Give us the heart of forgiveness so that every womb is instantly healed, every barrier instantly removed, every wall instantly torn down. That not only are we aggressively reproving and rebuking sin, but equally as aggressive and forgiving.

Thank You for what You’ll accomplish in and through us when we’re obedient to this. While your heads are bowed in just a closing moment, would you pray a personal prayer for just a silent moment, that God would make you a forgiving person. And now would you identify a person in your heart that’s been hard for you to forgive and would you be like God and forgive. Just say, Lord, and whisper the name in silence, I forgive that person. And maybe there’s more than one. And then would you say Lord, maybe because of some unforgiveness in my life, I have been chastened and never experienced the fullness of Your forgiveness. If it’s true, I confess that sin. Point it out to me that it may be made right. And having begun with heart forgiveness, go to your brother or your sister and seek restoration and give something of value, maybe yourself.

Father, thank You for what You’re accomplishing through Your word these days. These are so important, these truths. Make us a forgiving people who carry no grudges. Let no wombs fester, but whose hearts are so filled with grace and mercy from the gracious merciful spirit who lives there that we have more than enough for all who offend us, so that we could forgive 490 times a day and never exhaust the heart of forgiveness. We who have been forgiven so much.

Thank You for what You’re going to do in our hearts through all this day. Bring us together again tonight with great eagerness for the unfolding of Your word to us. Make this a special day, bless all the classes this morning, may they too be for Your glory and the building up of Your people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

The Evidence

The Biblical, or classical Hebrew, word for ‘salvation’ is transliterated as ‘Yeshuah’. Yeshuah, (which is #3444 in the Hebrew section of Strong’s Concordance of the Bible) means ‘deliverance; aid, victory, prosperity, help, salvation, save, saving (health), welfare’, and comes from the word ‘Yeshua’, (#3442), which means ‘he will save’.

The angel Gabriel told Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, that ‘she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). (The names ‘Jesus’, ‘Joseph’, ‘Mary’, used here are the English versions of the original Hebrew or Aramaic names.)

The angel used the well known Hebrew name, or equivalent Aramaic word, ‘Yeshua’, to describe the child’s destiny to Joseph. Gabriel’s message was simple, clear and prophetic: ‘You shall call His name ‘Salvation’ for he will save His people from their sins.’

It was customary for the father to bestow the name upon his offspring. That is why these specific instructions were given to Joseph (as the adoptive father) and not Mary. ‘Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS’ (Matthew 1:24-25). ‘Yeshua’ was the familiar name whereby the Savior was called on a daily basis. However, from On High, the Savior was also granted another name which was a particularly descriptive title revealing something marvelous of His true character or nature: ‘Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us’ (Matthew 1:22-23, quoting Isaiah 7:14).

There are a few other Hebrew words or variations of Yeshuah which are also translated as ‘salvation’ in the Tenach, but the word ‘Yeshua’ (#3444) is specifically used 65 times in the Old Testament. When one substitutes the equivalent word, Yeshuah (or the English word, ‘Jesus’), into the actual verses of Scripture, its power and significance is at once recognized.

Jesus (Yeshuah) In The Old Testament

Read with delight from just a small assortment of saving verses which clearly manifest the Person who was born to save the world, beginning with His own people:

* Jacob declared: ‘I have waited for thy Jesus, O LORD’ (Genesis 49:18);

* ‘And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD… because I rejoice in thy Jesus.’ (1 Samuel 12:1);

* ‘Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; show forth from day to day his Jesus’ (1 Chronicles 16:23);

* ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my Jesus’ (Job 13:15-16);

* “Oh that the Jesus of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice…’ (Psalm 14:7);

* “We will rejoice in thy Jesus, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions’ (Psalm 20:5);

* ‘He only is my rock and my Jesus; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved’ (Psalm 62:2);

* ‘But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy Jesus, O God, set me up on high’ (Psalm 69:29);

* ‘Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him… because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my Jesus’ (Psalm 91:14-16);

* ‘The LORD hath made known his Jesus: his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the Jesus of our God’ (Psalm 98:2-3);

* ‘I will take the cup of Jesus, and call upon the name of the LORD’ (Psalm 116:13);

* ‘The voice of rejoicing and Jesus is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly’ (Psalm 118:15);

* ‘For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with Jesus’ (Psalm 149:4);

* ‘Behold, God is my Jesus; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my Jesus. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Jesus’ (Isaiah 12:2-3);

* ‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth Jesus; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!’ (Isaiah 52:7);

* ‘For my Jesus is near to come… to be revealed’ (Isaiah 56:1).

Jesus was indeed revealed to the world, beginning at Bethlehem, the town of His birth predicted in Micah 5:2. If an angel announced the birth of Samson, ((Judges 13:3-5: ‘The angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.’)) no less would be done for the Savior of Israel: ‘There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:8-11).

As can be seen, the Messiah, Jesus, is often mentioned in the Tenach Scriptures, because his actual name is Salvation.

Jesus, the salvation (Yeshuah) of God, came, lived, taught, preached, healed, helped, prayed, offered Himself an atonement for sin, died, arose from the dead, ascended and was seated on the Father’s right hand… and He will save all those that call upon His saving name. ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name…the name of Yeshua” (Philippians 2:9-10).

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

A stone manger

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

As I learned firsthand at Megiddo in 1993, mangers are not made of light-weight wood as the artists have portrayed over the centuries. A wooden manger would be routinely kicked over by animals and the precious grain lost. Neither would it endure very long in an outdoor setting because of moisture. Further still, a wooden manger could easily be trod under hoof or chewed upon by restless donkeys and soon would be the end of it except for a few pieces with which to kindle a fire.

The baby Saviour was therefore placed in a hollowed-out, cut-to-measure stone feeding trough. The feed was placed in a rectangular-shaped one and water placed in a circular one. When I saw these two side by side at Megiddo–half submerged in earth–the imagery of the Nativity scene slowly began emerge. The Saviour made of Himself the following Old Testament comparison. “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”? (Matthew 21:42). God made His Son to be the Chief Cornerstone for the House of Israel: perfect, fundamental, and indispensable. This Chief Cornerstone was not only rejected at large throughout His final ministry, but also a short time after His birth as Herod sought to kill Him.

Not only was a cornerstone the first laid stone by which all other stones were positioned–both horizontally and vertically–such a stone was ceremonially laid, often hollowed to contain historical documents or objects and inscribed. Thus the imagery of the world’s Redeemer being ceremonially laid in a hollowed piece of stone can also be coupled with His historical inscription (Luke’s extensive genealogical documentation of Messiah’s birth & related circumstances) upon the “spiritually-hollow” House of Israel. Jesus laying in an elongated stone manger tightly-wound with strips of cloth also dramatically foreshadows His pre-determined resting place— hollowed limestone, i.e. a rich man’s tomb.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Chris Hustler - How to Recover from Bad Choices

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

The Saviour of lost sinners, the Christ of Calvary.

I know no “ideal” Jesus that human minds invent;

The only Christ I worship is whom the Father sent.

That human Christs could save me is inadmissible;

My Jesus is the image of God invisible.

My Christ became incarnate and of the Virgin born;

He left a crown of glory to wear the platted thorn.

The Infant of the manger, the village carpenter.

The Teacher sent from heaven to men to minister;

The true historic Jesus, who died and rose again,

He only is the Jesus that I proclaim to men.

— Nathan Searle.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

David Cloud - New Evangelicalism Danger to the Churches 2 of 3

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

‘Last eve I paused beside a blacksmith’s door,

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor

Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

‘“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

‘And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,

For ages sceptic blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unharmed–the hammers gone.‘

- John Clifford

Broken hammers!

Those two words sum up the entire history of men’s attacks on the Word of God. The anvil of God’s Word has for centuries suffered countless hammer blows from its enemies, yet it bears not a dent or scratch from all their spite! I see inscribed upon the broken hammers the names of those who wielded them!

I see Sennacharib’s name. Jehoiakim’s name is there (Jeremiah 36). Diocletian, Voltaire, Paine, Hegel, Hume, Griesbach, Semler, Lachman, Strauss, Baur, Ingersoll, Fosdick, and a thousand others have wielded their infidel arguments against the Word of God, and yet it endures. The floor of history is littered with the broken hammers of critics, but the anvil is unharmed!

The Answer to a Great Mystery

There is a great mystery here. How is it possible that the Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament and the Received Text of the Greek New Testament, and so very many of the faithful translations of the Bible have survived the enmity of wicked men so that we have the very Word of God in our possession today? The Scriptures give us the answer: God has preserved His Word for us. He told us in His Word He would do so:

‘The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever’ – Psalm 12:6-7.

‘For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled’ – Matthew. 5:18.

‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away’ – Matthew 24:35.

Add to these verses Psalm 33:11; 100:5; 105:8-10; 111:7,8; 117:2; 119:89, 152, 160; Isaiah 40:8;, and I Timothy. 6:14.

Our Lord Jesus stated this truth when he said, ‘…the Scripture cannot be broken.’ Without a doubt, God has preserved His Words for us, in English, in the King James Bible.

When I was a young Christian it used to trouble me that men were forever attacking the Word of God. Since I came to understand the doctrine of preservation, I no longer fear that we will ever lose the Word of God or see the King James Bible displaced by the modern mistranslations. As a little boy fifty years ago, I remember listening to our dear old pastor as he preached on the Inspiration of the Bible, its Inerrancy, its Authority, and its Preservation. At the time, the doctrine of Inspiration was under attack. Faithless men hammered away at the Holy Scriptures with their pompous words while sceptics laughed and applauded, but they all passed away, and the anvil was unharmed. Some years later, the Inerrancy of the Scriptures came under attack. For many years now the Authority of the Word of God has been under attack. And over the past twenty or thirty years ‘scholars’ have angrily attacked the doctrine of the Preservation of God’s Word. Without exception, these ‘scholars’ have held to what is called Modern Textual Criticism.

The Origins of Modern Textual Criticism

We must remember that the men who devised the basic principles of Modern Textual Criticism earned their degrees at the feet of the early modernists. In the eighteenth century modernists were known as German Rationalists. Using the ‘scientific’ methods of the Renaissance, they sat in judgment on the Word of God and dispensed with everything supernatural in the Bible. This view came to be called ‘Higher Criticism’. The students of the Higher Critics carried their modernism one step farther and devised theories of modern textual criticism to hammer away at the Inspiration, the Inerrancy, the Authority, and the Preservation of the Bible. Over the past century most Bible colleges and seminaries have embraced modern textual criticism and, as a result, have jettisoned the doctrine of Preservation.

They seem to have forgotten that God has always preserved certain things.

The Doctrine of Preservation

Holy Scripture tells us in 2 Peter 3:7:

‘But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men.’

Two separate words are used here to describe God’s preservation of the cosmos for the day of judgement. ‘Kept in store’ is from the Greek word ‘thesaurus’ . It carries the meaning of something being laid up as a treasure. ‘Reserved’ is from the word ‘teereo’ and means to keep, to preserve, or to hold fast. This verse agrees with Colossians 1:17: ‘And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.’ God is always actively preserving and keeping and holding together the heavens and the earth. He has a plan for them and will not allow them to be destroyed until his plan is fulfilled.

God has, for thousands of years, preserved the nation of Israel. Surely the words of God to Jacob in Genesis 28:15 (‘ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest…’) were not to Jacob alone, but to all his seed. Again and again, God promised to Israel that He would preserve them.

Exodus 23:20 reads, ‘Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.’ And the Jews were instructed to bless one another with the words of Numbers 6:24: ‘The LORD bless thee and keep thee…’ History bears solemn witness to the keeping power of God. He has preserved His covenant people in the face of bitter enmity and will yet bring them to faith in His Son. God has a plan for Israel and will not allow the Adolph Hitlers of the past, present, or future to destroy them.

God keeps His own children so that they can never be lost. Jude addressed his epistle to those who are ‘sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.’ We are preserved and kept and held fast. Oh, brother, if you are washed in the blood of the Lamb, you can swing over the pit of Hell on a rotten cornstalk singing Amazing Grace and never fear that you will fall in! We are assured in Romans 8:38,39 that no created thing or circumstance can ‘separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.’ My dear Saviour gave this poor little lamb all the assurance he would ever need when He said, ‘And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than I, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand’ (John 10:28,29). In Ephesians 4:30 we are told that we are ‘sealed with the Holy Spirit.’ What could be clearer than the fact that every member of the Trinity is involved in keeping us? God has a plan for us and will keep us all the way to Heaven. We are preserved!

How God Preserves His Word

It should not surprise us then, to read the verses on the preservation of the Bible. It is God’s way to preserve those things for which He has a great purpose and plan. In simple faith we say a loud ‘AMEN’ to every text that tells us God will preserve His Word. Church historians agree (often very reluctantly, I fear) that God HAS preserved His Word. Many preachers who should boldly preach this great truth (and don’t!) will nod their heads ever so timidly and sheepishly admit that it seems to be true, but then they will qualify that admission by saying that there are no verses in the Bible that specifically state the doctrine of Preservation. And then they will say that there are no verses that tell us how God preserves His Word.

We Baptists used to believe that everything in life is basically theological. By that we mean that we believe that every subject, every issue, and every doctrinal controversy MUST be looked at from God’s perspective, and we believe that His perspective is to be found in His Word. If you still hold that as a conviction, you will find that you are out of step with a great many Bible college professors and their graduates. And you wouldn’t be able to pass some of the courses in their learned institutions.

Why do I say this? Simply because it is now taboo in many circles for you to approach the subject of textual criticism from the perspective of faith. That is the perspective which believes that God has revealed in His Word how to discern which Greek text is reliable and which is not. We believe God has laid out for us in the Bible all the guidelines we need. If you hold to this position, you are pleading guilty to having a biblical bias. Most Bible ‘scholars’ tell us that this perspective is not ‘neutral.’ (Say, that sounds a lot like straddling the fence to me. I thought ‘neutralism’ was something that new evangelicals were into.) When the ‘scholars’ say they can find no verses in the Bible that teach that God has preserved His Word or how He does it, we are reminded of the three reasons a burglar can’t find a policeman:

1) He isn’t really interested in looking.

2) He tends to look in the wrong places.

3) And he would be in deep trouble if he did find one.

A Key Word

Now I would like to propose a little challenge for the scholarly gentlemen who tell us that the Bible has nothing to say about preservation. Since God uses the word ‘preserve’ in the Bible, why not take the time to look up all the verses in the Bible that use the Greek word translated ‘preserved’ ( as in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and in Jude 1)? It is the word, ‘teereo’. It is translated ‘preserved’ twice, ‘reserved’ eight times, ‘hold fast’ once, ‘hold’ once, ‘watch’ twice, ‘observe’ four times, ‘prison’ once, and ‘keep, keepers, kept, keepeth, and keeping’ almost sixty times. The overall definition we perceive through the Holy Spirit’s uses of the word ‘teereo’ is that of someone exercising a protective, custodial, watchful care over someone or some thing.

The Spirit used it to describe the soldiers watching Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:36, 54).It is used to describe those who watched the tomb of our Lord (Matthew 28:4). The ruler of the feast accused the bridegroom in John 2:10 of keeping back the best wine till last. In Acts 12:5-6 and 16:23, Peter and Paul were kept in prison. In 1 Corinthians 7:37 and 1 Timothy 5:22 a man is told to keep his body free from immorality. The Ephesian church was exhorted to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). Paul faces death in 2 Timothy 4:7 with the confidence that he has kept the faith. James writes that we are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. The truth of preservation is very clearly taught in all these verses. In each case someone or some thing is being watched over protectively. If we believe that ‘every word of God is pure’ (Proverbs 30:5), if we believe in the Verbal Inspiration of Scripture, then we believe that God very carefully chose this word to convey to us the fact that men commonly exercise a custodial and careful watchfulness over things that have value and importance.

The Surprising Uses of the Word

So what does this word have to do with the preservation of God’s Word? Simply this: the word, ‘teereo’, is used 28 times in the New Testament to describe men ‘keeping’ the sayings of Christ, His commandments, His words, and God’s law. See, for example, John 8:51: ‘If a man keep my saying, he shall never die’; and John 8:55: ‘…I know him and keep His saying.’ John 14:15 is the best known of these verses: ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments.’ Verses 21, 23, 24 emphasise the same truth: ‘He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me…’; ‘If a man love me, he will keep my words…’, and ‘He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings…’ I John 2:3-5 add these words: ‘And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby we do know that we are in him.’

For over forty years I have been reading those verses and assuming that they were only describing the simple obeying of God’s Word, but that is not all that is in the word ‘keep’. (It should be emphasized that there are three basic words for ‘obey’ in the Greek New Testament, but this word ‘teereo’ is never once translated ‘obey’.) The Holy Spirit’s consistent use of the word ‘teereo’ in the New Testament shows that it means to exercise a protective, watchful, custodial care of the thing kept. That is the basic meaning of the word. The verses which use the word ‘teereo’ in reference to keeping our Lord’s commandments teach us that God would have His children to preserve His Word. So have we been altogether wrong in supposing that we are to obey the words of Christ? I think not. God intended for us to lovingly exercise a protective watchcare over His Words, and in doing so, to obey them. If God’s people have a grasp of the importance of standing guard over the purity of God’s Word, and having a loving watchfulness over the Bible, they will also ‘keep’ it in obeying it. Obedience to the Bible and Preservation of the Bible are inseparable.

When the Lord Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:15, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments,’ He was instructing them to lovingly preserve His commandments from corruption by obeying them without alteration. That makes sense to this old hillbilly preacher. I will preserve God’s Word so I can obey it carefully and I will obey it carefully so I can preserve it unchanged for the next generation of God’s children. If I become careless in obeying it, I will become careless in preserving it. Say, have you noticed that those who are so opposed to the doctrine of preservation also become increasingly careless in obeying the Bible? And those who are most vocal in their support of the preservation of the Bible tend to be most concerned about simple obedience to it? It stands to reason that carelessness in preserving God’s Word goes with carelessness in obeying it, and diligence in preserving it goes with diligence in obeying it.

Simple Steps of Preservation

Now, I think I hear someone saying, “You still haven’t told us how God’s Word is preserved.”

First, we should recognise that when the Lord told men to keep His words He was addressing His disciples. This charge is given to the Lord’s disciples not only individually but collectively. In the simplest analysis churches are gatherings of disciples of Christ. It was the churches’ task then, and it is the churches’ task now, to ‘keep His commandments!’ The little church I pastor has been given a divine mandate to preserve the Bible. It is not the task of parachurch organisations such as denominations, Bible societies, Bible colleges, seminaries, Christian universities, or museums to preserve God’s Word. It is the work of the local church.

This is how God has preserved His Word since the time of the apostles, through local churches standing guard over it. Read the history of the primitive churches in every land. They preserved the Word of God without anyone’s help but God’s. Roman emperors and Roman popes tried their hardest to take the Bible away from the churches, but they would not give it up.

Churches in this century must realise that no group of people in the world has the right to tell a local church that it is exceeding its mandate when it stands guard over the purity of the Bible. No author, no Baptist pope, no fellowship of churches, no university, and no seminary has the right to overrule our Saviour’s charge to the local church to preserve God’s Word.

Second, any church that sets out to preserve their Saviour’s sayings commits itself inevitably to obey it in the letter and the spirit. The Great Commission of Christ to His disciples contains the words, ‘Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20). ‘All things’ teaches preservation; ‘Observe’ teaches obedience. Preservation and obedience are forever joined together.

We need to read with discernment the histories of the churches. When the ‘scholars’ of the 19th century discovered the mangled and mutilated manuscripts of the Alexandrian Greek text they should have exercised discernment as to the places they found them. The Vaticanus manuscript was discovered unused, unpreached, and unloved among the papists who had no desire to preserve it or obey it. Its credibility is immediately suspect because of the lawless obscurantism of its hosts. The Sinaitic manuscript was discovered in no better company. Godless priests were using it to kindle a fire. One of the rooms of the monastery was filled with the skulls of deceased priests. Dead rituals, dead prayers, dead doctrines, dead priests, and and a dead text, they all belong together.

A live text, the Received Text, should be found in a live church, filled with live doctrines, with a live preacher and live saints. They should actively worship the living God. They should be empowered by the Spirit of life. When the Spirit of God spoke through the apostle Paul, he described the local church as being ‘the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15). A church which trembles at the Word of God (Isaiah 66:2,5) will preserve it in the very fullest sense, lovingly obeying it.

And third, God has given us the very simplest instructions for the preserving of His Words. He tells us again and again not to add to it or take away from it. This is preservation in all its simplicity. Deuteronomy 4:2 is the first text that warns us not to add to, nor take away from the Word of God: ‘Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.’ (Note how preservation and obedience go together in this and the next text!) Deut.eronomy12:32 states this truth again: ‘What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.’ The wise man of Proverbs 30:6 warns, ‘Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.’ God’s commission to Jeremiah in chapter 26:2 is, ‘…(S)peak all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word.’

Revelation 22:18-19 are possibly the best known verses on the preservation of the Bible. They come at the close of the canon, and warn men most solemnly not to add to nor take away from the words of this book. What is not commonly known is that the 22nd chapter also contains two verses that speak of our part in preservation. Verse 7 promises a blessing on the man that ‘keepeth the sayings of this book.’ And verse 9 identifies the angel who spoke with John as being the fellowservant of them which ‘keep the sayings of this book.’ The word, again, is ‘teereo’. There is a blessing on the man who preserves the Word of God and avoids every alteration to the Bible. And a curse on those who add to or take away from it.

So God tells us how His Word is preserved. It is kept by those who love it and obey it. Down through the centuries He has kept his Word through His people. Wherever we find a church, large or small, that is committed to walking in the light of the Bible, we will find a church that takes its stewardship of the purity of God’s Word seriously. And we will find that they measure everything, including Modern Textual Criticism, by the Word of God.

Many years ago, I pastored a church near an aboriginal mission. There was a missionary living and working there who told me one day that someone had donated copies of a modern translation for the church in the settlement. He said that after a few weeks, the people came to him and said, “Brother ________, we don’t like this new Bible. We want the old one back again.” When he asked why, they said, “This Bible got no teeth!” In simple faith, with barely enough education to read, they knew the difference between the true Scriptures and the mangled thoughts of men. They knew that the Holy Scriptures have ‘teeth’, and they had discerned that the new ‘bible’ didn’t. They discerned that somebody had pulled the teeth of their Bible when they left verses out and added in the words of men.

They also knew that they should ‘keep’ the sayings of Jesus by asking for their old Bibles back. Those old Bibles were the King James Version.

One of the saddest statistics of our generation is that more and more Bible colleges and seminaries have become hammer factories for sceptics. But we should be greatly encouraged to know that there are more and more faithful churches who believe in God’s preservation of His Word. Many good books on preservation are being written and sermons preached and research done, so that there is an ever increasing body of Scriptural evidence that proves clearly that God is keeping His Word through His people.

I hear a new sound in the world today. It is the sound of hammers breaking as they beat themselves to pieces against the Word of God. It is music to our ears.

But it is not the hammers that make the music.

It is the anvil.

God is preserving His Word.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

“Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not down first sit down and count the cost?” (Luke 14:28)

The text which heads this page is one of great importance. Few are the people who are not often obliged to ask themselves, “What does it cost?”

In buying property, in building houses, in furnishing rooms, in forming plans, in changing dwellings, in educating children, it is wise and prudent to look forward and consider. Many would save themselves much sorrow and trouble if they would only remember the question: “What does it cost?”

But there is one subject on which it is especially important to count the cost. That subject is the salvation of our souls. What does it cost to be a true Christian? What does it cost to be a really holy man? This, after all, is the grand question. For want of thought about this, thousands, after seeming to begin well, turn away from the road to heaven, and are lost forever in hell.

We are living in strange times. Events are hurrying on with singular rapidity. We never know “what a day may bring forth”; how much less do we know what may happen in a year! We live in a day of great religious profession. Scores of professing Christians in every part of the land are expressing a desire for more holiness and a higher degree of spiritual life. Yet nothing is more common than to see people receiving the Word with joy, and then after two or three years falling away and going back to their sins. They had not considered what it costs to be a really consistent believer and holy Christian. Surely these are times when we ought often to sit down and count the cost and to consider the state of our souls. We must mind what we are about. If we desire to be truly holy, it is a good sign. We may thank God for putting the desire into our hearts. But still the cost ought to be counted. No doubt Christ’s way to eternal life is a way of pleasantness. But it is folly to shut our eyes to the fact that His way is narrow, and the cross comes before the crown.

1. THE COST OF BEING A TRUE CHRISTIAN

Let there be no mistake about my meaning. I am not examining what it costs to save a Christian’s soul. I know well that it costs nothing less than the blood of the Son of God to provide atonement and to redeem man from hell. The price paid for our redemption was nothing less than the death of Jesus Christ on Calvary. We “are bought with a price.” “Christ gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Tim. 2:6). But all this is wide of the question. The point I want to consider is another one altogether. It is what a man must be ready to give up if he wishes to be saved. It is the amount of sacrifice a man must submit to if he intends to serve Christ. It is in this sense that I raise the question: “What does it cost?” And I believe firmly that it is a most important one.

I grant freely that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A man has only got to attend a place of worship twice on Sunday and to be tolerably moral during the week, and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work: it entails no self–denial or self–sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and will take us to heaven when we die, we must alter the description of the way of life, and write, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to heaven!”

But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.”

Let me try to show precisely and particularly what it costs to be a true Christian. Let us suppose that a man is disposed to take service with Christ and feels drawn and inclined to follow Him. Let us suppose that some affliction or some sudden death or an awakening sermon has stirred his conscience and made him feel the value of his soul and desire to be a true Christian. No doubt there is everything to encourage him. His sins may be freely forgiven, however many and great. His heart may be completely changed, however cold and hard. Christ and the Holy Spirit, mercy and grace, are all ready for him. But still he should count the cost. Let us see particularly, one by one, the things that his religion will cost him.

1. True Christianity will cost one his self–righteousness. He must cast away all pride and high thoughts and conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved only by free grace and owing all to the merit and righteousness of another. He must really feel as well as say the Prayer Book words, that he has “erred and gone astray like a lost sheep,” that he has “left undone the things he ought to have done, and that there is no health in him.” He must be willing to give up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible reading, church–going, and sacrament receiving, and to trust in nothing but Jesus Christ.

2. True Christianity will cost a man his sins. He must be willing to give up every habit and practice which is wrong in God’s sight. He must set his face against it, quarrel with it, break off from it, fight with it, crucify it and labor to keep it under, whatever the world around him may say or think. He must do this honestly and fairly. There must be no separate truce with any special sin which he loves. He must count all sins as his deadly enemies and hate every false way. Whether little or great, whether open or secret, all his sins must be thoroughly renounced. They may struggle hard with him every day and sometimes almost get the mastery over him. But he must never give way to them. He must keep up a perpetual war with his sins. It is written, “Cast away from you all your transgressions.” “Break off your sins . . . and iniquities.” “Cease to do evil” (Ezek. 18:31; Dan. 4:27; Isa. 1:16).

This sounds hard. I do not wonder. Our sins are often as dear to us as our children: we love them, hug them, cleave to them and delight in them. To part with them is as hard as cutting off a right hand or plucking out a right eye. But it must be done. The parting must come. “Though wickedness be sweet in the sinner’s mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not,” yet it must be given up, if he wishes to be saved (Job 20:12, 13). He and sin must quarrel if he and God are to be friends. Christ is willing to receive any sinners. But He will not receive them if they will stick to their sins.

3. Also, Christianity will cost a man his love of ease. He must take pains and trouble if he means to run a successful race toward heaven. He must daily watch and stand on his guard, like a soldier on enemy’s ground. He must take heed to his behavior every hour of the day, in every company and in every place, in public as well as in private, among strangers as well as at home. He must be careful over his time, his tongue, his temper, his thoughts, his imagination, his motives, his conduct in every relation of life. He must be diligent about his prayers, his Bible reading, and his use of Sundays, with all their means of grace. In attending to these things, he may come far short of perfection; but there is none of those who he can safely neglect. “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Prov. 13:4).

This also sounds hard. There is nothing we naturally dislike so much as “trouble” about our religion. We hate trouble. We secretly wish we could have a vicarious Christianity, and could be good by proxy, and have everything done for us. Anything that requires exertion and labor is entirely against the grain of our hearts. But the soul can have “no gains without pains.”

4. Lastly, true Christianity will cost a man the favor of the world. He must be content to be thought ill of by man if he pleases God. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted and even hated. He must not be surprised to find his opinions and practices in religion despised and held up to scorn. He must submit to be thought by many a fool, an enthusiast and a fanatic, to have his words perverted and his actions misrepresented. In fact, he must not marvel if some call him mad. The Master says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, ‘The servant is not greater than his Lord.’ If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).

I dare say this also sounds hard. We naturally dislike unjust dealing and false charges and think it very hard to be accused without cause. We should not be flesh and blood if we did not wish to have the good opinion of our neighbors. It is always unpleasant to be spoken against and forsaken and lied about and to stand alone. But there is no help for it. The cup which our Master drank must be drunk by His disciples. They must be “despised and rejected of men” (Isa. 53:3). Let us set down that item last in our account. To be a Christian, it will cost a man the favor of the world.

Considering the weight of this great cost, bold indeed must that man be who would dare to say that we may keep our self–righteousness, our sins, our laziness and our love of the world, and yet be saved!

Moreover, I grant it costs much to be a true Christian. But what sane man or woman can doubt that it is worth any cost to have the soul saved? When the ship is in danger of sinking, the crew think nothing of casting overboard the precious cargo. When a limb is mortified, a man will submit to any severe operation, and even to amputation, to save life. Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything which stands between him and heaven. A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF COUNTING THE COST

I might easily settle this question by laying down the principle that no duty enjoined by Christ can ever be neglected without damage. I might show how many shut their eyes throughout life to the nature of saving religion and refuse to consider what it really costs to be a Christian. I might describe how at last, when life is ebbing away, they wake up and make a few spasmodic efforts to turn to God. I might tell you how they find to their amazement that repentance and conversion are no such easy matters as they had supposed, and that it costs “a great sum” to be a true Christian. They discover that habits of pride and sinful indulgence and love of ease and worldliness are not so easily laid aside as they had dreamed. And so, after a faint struggle, they give up in despair, and leave the world hopeless, graceless and unfit to meet God! They had flattered themselves all their days that religion would be easy work when they once took it up seriously. But they open their eyes too late and discover for the first time that they are ruined because they never counted the cost.

But there is a certain group of people to whom especially I wish to address myself in handling this part of my subject. It is a large class, an increasing class, and a class which in these days is in peculiar danger. Let me in a few plain words try to describe this class. It deserves our best attention.

The people I speak of are not thoughtless about religion; they think a good deal about it. They are not ignorant of religion; they know the outlines of it pretty well. But their great defect is that they are not “rooted and grounded” in their faith. Too often they have picked up their knowledge second–hand, from being in religious families, or from being trained in religious ways, but have never worked it out by their own inward experience. Too often they have hastily taken up a profession of religion under the pressure of circumstances, from sentimental feelings, from animal excitement or from a vague desire to do like others around them, but without any solid work of grace in their hearts. People like these are in a position of immense danger. They are precisely those, if Bible examples are worth anything, who need to be exhorted to count the cost.

For want of counting the cost, myriads of the children of Israel perished miserably in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. They left Egypt full of zeal and fervor as if nothing could stop them. But when they found dangers and difficulties in the way, their courage soon cooled down. They had never reckoned on trouble. They had thought the promised land would be all before them in a few days. And so when enemies, privations, hunger and thirst began to try them, they murmured against Moses and God and would sincerely have gone back to Egypt. In a word, they had not counted the cost and so lost everything and died in their sins.

For want of counting the cost, many of our Lord Jesus Christ’s hearers went back after a time and “walked no more with Him” (John 6:66). When they first saw His miracles and heard His preaching, they thought “the kingdom of God would immediately appear.” They cast in their lot with His apostles and followed Him without thinking of the consequences. But when they found that there were hard doctrines to be believed and hard work to be done and hard treatment to be borne, their faith gave way entirely and proved to be nothing at all. In a word, they had not counted the cost, and so made shipwreck of their profession.

For want of counting the cost, King Herod returned to his old sins and destroyed his soul. He liked to hear John the Baptist preach. He observed and honored him as a just and holy man. He even “did many things” which were right and good. But when he found that he must give up his darling Herodias, his religion entirely broke down. He had not reckoned on this. He had not counted the cost (Mark 6:20).

For want of counting the cost, Demas forsook the company of Paul, forsook the gospel, forsook Christ, forsook heaven. For a long time he journeyed with the great apostle of the Gentiles and was actually a “fellow–laborer.” But when he found he could not have the friendship of this world as well as the friendship of God, he gave up his Christianity and cleaved to the world. “Demas has forsaken me,” says Paul, “having loved this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10). He had not “counted the cost.”

For want of counting the cost, the hearers of powerful evangelical preachers often come to miserable ends. They are stirred and excited into professing what they have not really experienced. They receive the Word with a “joy” so extravagant that it almost startles old Christians. They run for a time with such zeal and fervor that they seem likely to outstrip all others. They talk and work for spiritual objects with such enthusiasm that they make older believers feel ashamed. But when the novelty and freshness of their feelings is gone, a change comes over them. They prove to have been nothing more than stony–ground hearers. The description the great Master gives in the parable of the sower is exactly exemplified: “Temptation or persecution arises because of the Word, and they are offended” (Matt. 13:21). Little by little their zeal melts away and their love becomes cold. By and by their seats are empty in the assembly of God’s people, and they are heard of no more among Christians. And why? They had never counted the cost.

For lack of counting the cost, hundreds of professed converts, under religious revivals, go back to the world after a time and bring disgrace on religion. They begin with a sadly mistaken notion of what is true Christianity. They fancy it consists in nothing more than a so–called “coming to Christ” and having strong inward feelings of joy and peace. And so when they find, after a time, that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful, and that there is a busy devil always near us, they cool down in disgust and return to their old sins. And why? Because they had really never known what Bible Christianity is. They had never learned that we must count the cost.

For want of counting the cost, the children of religious parents often turn out ill and bring disgrace on Christianity. Familiar from their earliest years with the form and theory of the gospel, taught even from infancy to repeat great leading texts, accustomed every week to be instructed in the gospel, or to instruct others in Sunday schools, they often grow up professing a religion without knowing why or without ever having thought seriously about it. And then when the realities of grown–up life begin to press upon them, they often astound everyone by dropping all their religion and plunging right into the world. And why? They had never thoroughly understood the sacrifices which Christianity entails. They had never been taught to count the cost.

These are solemn and painful truths. But they are truths. They all help to show the immense importance of the subject I am now considering. They all point out the absolute necessity of pressing the subject of this message on all who profess a desire for holiness and of crying aloud in all the churches, “Count the cost.”

I am bold to say that it would be well if the duty of counting the cost were more frequently taught than it is. Impatient hurry is the order of the day with many religionists. Instantaneous conversions, and immediate sensible peace, are the only results they seem to care for from the gospel. Compared with these, all other things are thrown into the shade. To produce them is the grand end and object, apparently, of all their labors. I say without hesitation that such a naked, one–sided mode of teaching Christianity is mischievous in the extreme.

Let no one mistake my meaning. I thoroughly approve of offering men a full, free, present, immediate salvation in Christ Jesus. I thoroughly approve of urging on man the possibility and the duty of immediate instantaneous conversion. In these matters I give place to no one. But I do say that these truths ought not to be set before men nakedly, singly and alone. They ought to be told honestly what it is they are taking up if they profess a desire to come out from the world and serve Christ. They ought not to be pressed into the ranks of Christ’s army without being told what the warfare entails. In a word, they should be told honestly to count the cost.

Does anyone ask what our Lord Jesus Christ’s practice was in this matter? Let him read what Luke records. He tells us that, on a certain occasion, “There went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them, ‘If any come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple’” (Luke 14:25–27). I must plainly say that I cannot reconcile this passage with the proceedings of many modern religious teachers. And yet, to my mind, the doctrine of it is as clear as the sun at noonday. It shows us that we ought not to hurry men into professing discipleship without warning them plainly to count the cost.

Does anyone ask what the practice of the eminent and best preachers of the gospel has been in days gone by? I am bold to say that they have all with one mouth borne testimony to the wisdom of our Lord’s dealing with the multitudes to which I have just referred. Luther and Latimer and Baxter and Wesley and Whitefield, and Berridge and Rowland Hill were all keenly alive to the deceitfulness of man’s heart. They knew full well that all is not gold that glitters, that conviction is not conversion, that feeling is not faith, that sentiment is not grace, that all blossoms do not come to fruit. “Be not deceived,” was their constant cry. “Consider well what you do. Do not run before you are called. Count the cost.”

If we desire to do good, let us never be ashamed of walking in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Work hard if you will, and have the opportunity, for the souls of others. Press them to consider their ways. Compel them with holy violence to come in, to lay down their arms and to yield themselves to God. Offer them salvation, ready, free, full, immediate salvation. Press Christ and all His benefits on their acceptance. But in all your work tell the truth, and the whole truth. Be ashamed to use the vulgar arts of a recruiting sergeant. Do not speak only of the uniform, the pay and the glory; speak also of the enemies, the battle, the armor, the watching, the marching and the drill. Do not present only one side of Christianity. Do not keep back the cross of self–denial that must be carried, when you speak of the cross on which Christ died for our redemption. Explain fully what Christianity entails. Entreat men to repent and come to Christ; but bid them at the same time to count the cost.

3. SOME HINTS

Sorry indeed should I be if I did not say something on this branch of my subject. I have no wish to discourage anyone or to keep anyone back from Christ’s service. It is my heart’s desire to encourage everyone to go forward and take up the cross. Let us count the cost by all means, and count it carefully. But let us remember that, if we count rightly and look on all sides, there is nothing that need make us afraid.

Let me mention some things which should always enter into our calculations in counting the cost of true Christianity. Set down honestly and fairly what you will have to give up and go through if you become Christ’s disciple. Leave nothing out. Put it all down. But then set down side by side the following sums which I am going to give you. Do this fairly and correctly, and I am not afraid for the result.

a. Count up and compare the profit and the loss, if you are a true–hearted and holy Christian. You may possibly lose something in this world, but you will gain the salvation of your immortal soul. It is written: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36.)

b. Count up and compare the praise and the blame, if you are a true–hearted and holy Christian. You may possibly be blamed by man, but you will have the praise of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Your blame will come from the lips of a few erring, blind, fallible men and women. Your praise will come from the King of kings and Judge of all the earth. It is only those whom He blesses who are really blessed. It is written: “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:11, 12).

c. Count up and compare the friends and the enemies, if you are a true–hearted and holy Christian. On the one side of you is the enmity of the devil and the wicked. On the other, you have the favor and friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your enemies, at most, can only bruise your heel. They may rage loudly and compass sea and land to work your ruin, but they cannot destroy you. Your Friend is able to save to the uttermost all them that come unto God by Him. None shall ever pluck His sheep out of His hand. It is written: “Be not afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear Him, which after He has killed has power to cast into hell; yes, I say unto you, fear Him” (Luke 12:5).

d. Count up and compare the life that now is and the life to come, if you are a true–hearted and holy Christian. The time present, no doubt, is not a time of ease. It is a time of watching and praying, fighting and struggling, believing and working. But it is only for a few years. The time future is the season of rest and refreshing. Sin shall be cast out. Satan shall be bound. And, best of all, it shall be a rest forever. It is written: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17, 18).

e. Count up and compare the pleasures of sin and the happiness of God’s service, if you are a true–hearted and holy Christian. The pleasures that the worldly man gets by his ways are hollow, unreal and unsatisfying. They are like the fire of thorns, flashing and crackling for a few minutes, and then quenched forever. The happiness that Christ gives to His people is something solid, lasting and substantial. It is not dependent on health or circumstances. It never leaves a man, even in death. It ends in a crown of glory that fades not away. It is written: “The joy of the hypocrite [is] but for a moment.” “As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool” (Job 20:5; Eccl. 7:6). But it is also written: “Peace I leave with you, My peace give I unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

f. Count up and compare the trouble that true Christianity entails and the troubles that are in store for the wicked beyond the grave. Grant for a moment that Bible reading and praying and repenting and believing and holy living require pains and self–denial. It is all nothing compared to that wrath to come which is stored up for the impenitent and unbelieving. A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross. The “worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched” are things which it passes man’s power to conceive fully or describe. It is written: “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented” (Luke 16:25).

g. Count up and compare the number of those who turn from sin and the world and serve Christ, and the number of those who forsake Christ and return to the world. On the one side you will find thousands; on the other you will find none. Multitudes are every year turning out of the broad way and entering the narrow. None who really enter the narrow way grow tired of it and return to the broad. The footsteps in the downward road are often to be seen turning out of it. The footsteps in the road to heaven are all one way. It is written: “The way of the wicked is . . . darkness.” “The way of transgressors is hard” (Prov. 4:19; 13:15). But it is also written: “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18).

Such sums as these, no doubt, are often not done correctly. Not a few, I am well aware, are ever “halting between two opinions.” They cannot make up their minds that it is worthwhile to serve Christ. The losses and gains, the advantages and disadvantages, the sorrows and the joys, the helps and the hindrances appear to them so nearly balanced that they cannot decide for God. They cannot do this great sum correctly. They cannot make the result so clear as it ought to be. They do not count right.

But why do they err so greatly? They lack faith. Paul advises us on how to come to a right conclusion about our souls in Hebrews 11, revealing a powerful principle that operates in the business of counting the cost. It is the same principle Noah understood, and that I will now make clear.

How was it that Noah persevered in building the ark? He stood alone amid a world of sinners and unbelievers. He had to endure scorn, ridicule and mockery. What was it that nerved his arm, and made him patiently work on and face it all? It was faith. He believed in a wrath to come. He believed that there was no safety, excepting in the ark that he was preparing. Believing, he held the world’s opinion very cheap. He counted the cost by faith and had no doubt that to build the ark was gain.

How was it that Moses forsook the pleasures of Pharaoh’s house and refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter? How was it that he cast in his lot with a despised people like the Hebrews and risked everything in this world in carrying out the great work of their deliverance from bondage? To the eye of sense he was losing everything and gaining nothing. What was it that moved him? It was faith. He believed that the “recompense of reward” was far better than all the honors of Egypt. He counted the cost by faith, as “seeing Him that is invisible,” and was persuaded that to forsake Egypt and go forth into the wilderness was gain.

How was it that Saul the Pharisee could ever make up his mind to become a Christian? The cost and sacrifices of the change were fearfully great. He gave up all his brilliant prospects among his own people. He brought on himself, instead of man’s favor, man’s hatred, man’s enmity and man’s persecution, even unto death. What was it that enabled him to face it all? It was faith. He believed that Jesus, who met him on the way to Damascus, could give him a hundredfold more than he gave up, and in the world to come everlasting life. By faith he counted the cost and saw clearly on which side the balance lay. He believed firmly that to carry the cross of Christ was gain.

Let us mark well these things. That faith which made Noah, Moses and Paul do what they did, that faith is the great secret of coming to a right conclusion about our souls. That same faith must be our helper and ready–reckoner when we sit down to count the cost of being a true Christian. That same faith is to be had for the asking. “He gives more grace” (James 4:6). Armed with that faith, we shall set things down at their true value. Filled with that faith, we shall neither add to the cross nor subtract from the crown. Our conclusions will be all correct. Our sum total will be without error.

1. Now, let us make the serious inquiry: “What does your Christianity cost you?” Very likely it costs you nothing. Very probably it neither costs you trouble, nor time, nor thought, nor care, nor pains, nor reading, nor praying, nor self–denial, nor conflict, nor working, nor labor of any kind. Now mark what I say. Such a religion as this will never save your soul. It will never give you peace while you live, nor hope while you die. It will not support you in the day of affliction, nor cheer you in the hour of death. A religion which costs nothing is worth nothing. Awake before it is too late. Awake and repent. Awake and be converted. Awake and believe. Awake and pray. Rest not until you can give a satisfactory answer to my question: “What does it cost?”

2. Think, if you want stirring motives for serving God, what it cost to provide a salvation for your soul. Think how the Son of God left heaven and became Man, suffered on the cross and lay in the grave, to pay your debt to God, and work out for you a complete redemption. Think of all this and learn that it is no light matter to possess an immortal soul. It is worthwhile to take some trouble about one’s soul.

Ah, lazy man or woman, is it really come to this, that you will miss heaven for lack of trouble? Are you really determined to make shipwreck forever, from mere dislike to exertion? Away with the cowardly, unworthy thought. Arise and play the man. Say to yourself, “Whatever it may cost, I will, at any rate, strive to enter in at the strait gate.” Look at the cross of Christ and take fresh courage. Look forward to death, judgment and eternity, and be in earnest. It may cost much to be a Christian, but you may be sure it pays.

3. If any reader of this message really feels that he has counted the cost and taken up the cross, I bid him persevere and press on. I dare say you often feel your heart faint and are sorely tempted to give up in despair. Your enemies seem so many, your besetting sins so strong, your friends so few, the way so steep and narrow, you hardly know what to do. But still I say, persevere and press on.

The time is very short. A few more years of watching and praying, a few more tossings on the sea of this world, a few more deaths and changes, a few more winters and summers, and all will be over. We shall have fought our last battle and shall need to fight no more.

The presence and company of Christ will make amends for all we suffer here below. When we see as we have been seen and look back on the journey of life, we shall wonder at our own faintness of heart. We shall marvel that we made so much of our cross, and thought so little of our crown. We shall marvel that in “counting the cost” we could ever doubt on which side the balance of profit lay. Let us take courage. We are not far from home. It may cost much to be a true Christian and a consistent holy man; but it pays.

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

More …. http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=1589888

“It not only gives stark penalties and liabilities against counselors and psychologists attempting to assist adults wanting or asking for therapy regarding sexual orientation issues, but it outright bans and prohibits anyone under the age of 18 to have any pro-heterosexual counseling or therapy when they are struggling with their sexual orientation,” Dacus summarizes. “Worse yet is if parents are caught being non-supportive of their child’s perception of homosexuality in any way, then that is deemed abuse by parents under this statute and grounds for the government to permanently take that child from their parents.”

That is because sexually-confused youth who experience “family rejection … face especially serious health risks” — according to SB 1172. So the bill flatly bans SOCE for minors, despite the wishes of the parents or the patients.

But PJI points out that the measure craftily leaves out transgender people, “because backers believe gender is changeable, but sexual orientation is not.” The legal group is asking Californians to contact their state senators and voice opposition to SB 1172.

Dacus adds: “I can honestly say this is one of the most outrageous, speech-chilling bills we have ever seen in California — and that’s saying a lot.” His firm accounts that the measure blames those who believe change is possible for “gay suicides, gild, substance abuse, relationship problems, and a host of other ills.”

According to PJI, even the California Psychological Association, which normally embraces LGBT rights, is opposed to the current form of SB 1172.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

“Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12)

It is a curious fact that there is no subject about which most people feel such deep interest as fighting. Young men and maidens, old men and little children, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all feel a deep interest in wars, battles and fighting.

A simple inscrutable fact presents itself to us, we are excited when we hear stories of war. Some would consider an Englishman rather boring if he cared nothing about the story of Waterloo or Inkerman or Balaclava or Lucknow. Many consider the heart cold and stupid which is not moved and thrilled by the struggles at Sedan and Strasburg and Metz and Paris during the war between France and Germany. But there is another warfare of far greater importance than any war that was ever waged by man. It is a warfare which concerns not two or three nations only, but every Christian man and woman born into the world. The warfare I speak of is the spiritual warfare. It is the fight which everyone who would be saved must fight about his soul.

This warfare, I am aware, is a thing of which many know nothing. Talk to them about it, and they are ready to set you down as a madman, an enthusiast or a fool. And yet it is as real and true as any war the world has ever seen. It has its hand–to–hand conflicts and its wounds. It has its watchings and fatigues. It has its sieges and assaults. It has its victories and its defeats. Above all, it has consequences which are awful, tremendous and most peculiar. In earthly warfare the consequences to nations are often temporary and remediable. In the spiritual warfare it is very different. Of that warfare, the consequences, when the fight is over, are unchangeable and eternal.

It is of this warfare that St. Paul spoke to Timothy, when he wrote those burning words, “Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life.” It is of this warfare that I propose to speak in this message. I hold the subject to be closely connected with that of sanctification and holiness. He who would understand the nature of true holiness must know that the Christian is “a man of war.” If we would be holy, we must fight.

1. True Christianity is a Fight

True Christianity! Let us mind that word “true.” There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. It passes muster, it satisfies sleepy consciences; but it is not good money. It is not the authentic reality that called itself Christianity in the beginning. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a “profession” of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any “fight” about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self–denial and watching and warring they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is “a fight.”

The true Christian is called to be a soldier and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence and security. He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be content with such notions, but he will find no countenance for them in the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must “fight.”

With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other Christians. Wretched indeed is that man’s idea of religion who fancies that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, chapel and chapel, sect and sect, faction and faction, party and party, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful sometimes to appeal to law courts in order to ascertain the right interpretation of a church’s articles and rubrics and formularies. But, as a general rule, the cause of sin is never so much helped as when Christians waste their strength in quarreling with one another and spend their time in petty squabbles.

No, indeed! The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh and the devil. These are his never–dying foes. These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. If he had a nature like an angel, and were not a fallen creature, the warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil and an ensnaring world, he must either “fight” or be lost.

He must fight the flesh. Even after conversion he carries within him a nature prone to evil and a heart weak and unstable as water. That heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a miserable delusion to expect it. To keep that heart from going astray, the Lord Jesus bids us, “Watch and pray.” The spirit may be ready, but the flesh is weak. There is need of a daily struggle and a daily wrestling in prayer. “I keep under my body,” cries St. Paul, “and bring it into subjection.” “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity.” “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” “Mortify . . . your members which are upon the earth” (Mark 14:38; 1 Cor. 9:27; Rom. 7:23, 24; Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:5).

He must fight the world. The subtle influence of that mighty enemy must be daily resisted, and without a daily battle can never be overcome. The love of the world’s good things, the fear of the world’s laughter or blame, the secret desire to keep in with the world, the secret wish to do as others in the world do, and not to run into extremes—all these are spiritual foes which beset the Christian continually on his way to heaven and must be conquered. “The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” “The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.” “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” “Be not conformed to this world” (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15; Gal. 6:14; 1 John 5:4; Rom. 12:2).

He must fight the devil. That old enemy of mankind is not dead. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve he has been “going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it,” and striving to compass one great end—the ruin of man’s soul. Never slumbering and never sleeping, he is always going about as a lion seeking whom he may devour. An unseen enemy, he is always near us, about our path and about our bed, and spying out all our ways. A murderer and a liar from the beginning, he labors night and day to cast us down to hell. Sometimes by leading into superstition, sometimes by suggesting infidelity, sometimes by one kind of tactics and sometimes by another, he is always carrying on a campaign against our souls. “Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” This mighty adversary must be daily resisted if we wish to be saved. But “this kind goes not out” but by watching and praying and fighting and putting on the whole armor of God. The strong man armed will never be kept out of our hearts without a daily battle (Job 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:8; John 8:44; Luke 22:31; Eph. 6:11).

Some men may think these statements too strong. You fancy that I am going too far and laying on the colors too thickly. You are secretly saying to yourself that men and women may surely get to heaven without all this trouble and warfare and fighting. Listen to me for a few minutes, and I will show you that I have something to say on God’s behalf. Remember the maxim of the wisest general that ever lived in England: “In time of war it is the worst mistake to underrate your enemy, and try to make a little war.” This Christian warfare is no light matter. What says the Scripture? “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” “Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.” “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.” “Labor . . . for [the] meat that endures unto everlasting life.” “Do not think that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace but a sword.” “He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” “Watch you, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” “War a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience” (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:3; Eph. 6:11–13; Luke 13:24; John 6:27; Matt. 10:34; Luke 22:36; 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Tim. 1:18, 19). Words such as these appear to me clear, plain and unmistakable. They all teach one and the same great lesson, if we are willing to receive it. That lesson is, that true Christianity is a struggle, a fight and a warfare. He who pretends to condemn “fighting” and teaches that we ought to sit still and “yield ourselves to God,” appears to me to misunderstand his Bible, and to make a great mistake.

What says the baptismal service of the Church of England? No doubt that service is uninspired and, like every uninspired composition, it has its defects; but to the millions of people all over the globe who profess and call themselves English churchmen, its voice ought to speak with some weight. And what does it say? It tells us that over every new member who is admitted into the Church of England the following words are used: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” “I sign this child with the sign of the cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world and the devil, and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.” Of course we all know that in myriads of cases baptism is a mere form and that parents bring their children to the font without faith or prayer or thought and consequently receive no blessing. The man who supposes that baptism in such cases acts mechanically, like a medicine, and that godly and ungodly, praying and prayerless parents, all alike get the same benefit for their children must be in a strange state of mind. But one thing, at any rate, is very certain. Every baptized churchman is by his profession a “soldier of Jesus Christ,” and is pledged “to fight under His banner against sin, the world and the devil.” He that doubts it had better take up his Prayer Book and read, mark and learn its contents. The worst thing about many very zealous churchmen is their total ignorance of what their own Prayer Book contains.

Whether we are churchmen or not, one thing is certain—this Christian warfare is a great reality and a subject of vast importance. It is not a matter like church government and ceremonial, about which men may differ, and yet reach heaven at last. Necessity is laid upon us. We must fight. There are no promises in the Lord Jesus Christ’s epistles to the seven churches, except to those who “overcome.” Where there is grace there will be conflict. The believer is a soldier. There is no holiness without a warfare. Saved souls will always be found to have fought a fight.

It is a fight of absolute necessity. Let us not think that in this war we can remain neutral and sit still. Such a line of action may be possible in the strife of nations, but it is utterly impossible in that conflict which concerns the soul. The boasted policy of non–interference, the “masterly inactivity” which pleases so many statesmen, the plan of keeping quiet and letting things alone—all this will never do in the Christian warfare. Here at any rate no one can escape serving under the plea that he is “a man of peace.” To be at peace with the world, the flesh and the devil, is to be at enmity with God and in the broad way that leads to destruction. We have no choice or option. We must either fight or be lost.

It is a fight of universal necessity. No rank or class or age can plead exemption, or escape the battle. Ministers and people, preachers and hearers, old and young, high and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, kings and subjects, landlords and tenants, learned and unlearned—all alike must carry arms and go to war. All have by nature a heart full of pride, unbelief, sloth, worldliness and sin. All are living in a world beset with snares, traps and pitfalls for the soul. All have near them a busy, restless, malicious devil. All, from the queen in her palace down to the pauper in the workhouse, all must fight, if they would be saved.

It is a fight of perpetual necessity. It admits of no breathing time, no armistice, no truce. On weekdays as well as on Sundays, in private as well as in public, at home by the family fireside as well as abroad, in little things, like management of tongue and temper, as well as in great ones, like the government of kingdoms, the Christian’s warfare must unceasingly go on. The foe we have to do with keeps no holidays, never slumbers and never sleeps. So long as we have breath in our bodies, we must keep on our armor and remember we are on an enemy’s ground. “Even on the brink of Jordan,” said a dying saint, “I find Satan nibbling at my heels.” We must fight until we die.

Let us consider well these propositions. Let us take care that our own personal religion is real, genuine and true. The saddest symptom about many so–called Christians is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once or twice every week. But of the great spiritual warfare—its watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests—of all this they appear to know nothing at all. Let us take care that this case is not our own. The worst state of soul is when the strong man armed keeps the house, and his goods are at peace, when he leads men and women captive at his will, and they make no resistance. The worst chains are those which are neither felt nor seen by the prisoner (Luke 11:21; 2 Tim. 2:26).

We may take comfort about our souls if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness. It is not everything, I am well aware, but it is something. Do we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel anything of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would? (Gal. 5:17.) Are we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery? Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the great work of sanctification. All true saints are soldiers. Anything is better than apathy, stagnation, deadness and indifference. We are in a better state than many. The most part of so–called Christians have no feeling at all. We are evidently no friends of Satan. Like the kings of this world, he wars not against his own subjects. The very fact that he assaults us should fill our minds with hope. I say again, let us take comfort. The child of God has two great marks about him, and of these two we have one. He may be known by his inward warfare, as well as by his inward peace.

2. True Christianity is the Fight of Faith

Unlike the battles of the world, true Christianity fights in a realm that does not depend upon physical strength, the strong arm, the quick eye or the swift foot. Conventional weaponry does not come into play. Rather, its weapons are spiritual, and faith is the axis upon which the battle turns.

A general faith in the truth of God’s written Word is the primary foundation of the Christian soldier’s character. He is what he is, does what he does, thinks as he thinks, acts as he acts, hopes as he hopes, behaves as he behaves, for one simple reason—he believes certain propositions revealed and laid down in Holy Scripture. “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

A religion without doctrine or dogma is a thing which many are fond of talking of in the present day. It sounds very fine at first. It looks very pretty at a distance. But the moment we sit down to examine and consider it, we shall find it a simple impossibility. We might as well talk of a body without bones and sinews. No man will ever be anything or do anything in religion unless he believes something. Even those who profess to hold the miserable and uncomfortable views of the deists are obliged to confess that they believe something. With all their bitter sneers against dogmatic theology and Christian credulity, as they call it, they themselves have a kind of faith.

As for true Christians, faith is the very backbone of their spiritual existence. No one ever fights earnestly against the world, the flesh and the devil, unless he has engraved on his heart certain great principles which he believes. What they are he may hardly know and may certainly not be able to define or write down. But there they are and, consciously or unconsciously, they form the roots of his religion. Wherever you see a man, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned, wrestling manfully with sin and trying to overcome it, you may be sure there are certain great principles which that man believes. The poet who wrote the famous lines

“For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight,

He can’t be wrong whose life is in the right,”

was a clever man, but a poor divine. There is no such thing as right living without faith and believing.

A special faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s person, work and office is the life, heart and mainspring of the Christian soldier’s character.

He sees by faith an unseen Savior, who loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions, rose again for him, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate at the right hand of God. He sees Jesus and clings to Him. Seeing this Savior and trusting in Him, he feels peace and hope and willingly does battle against the foes of his soul.

He sees his own many sins, his weak heart, a tempting world, a busy devil; and if he looked only at them, he might well despair. But he sees also a mighty Savior, an interceding Savior, a sympathizing Savior—His blood, His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood—and he believes that all this is his own. He sees Jesus and casts his whole weight on Him. Seeing Him, he cheerfully fights on, with a full confidence that he will prove more than conqueror through Him that loved him (Rom. 8:37).

Habitual lively faith in Christ’s presence and readiness to help is the secret of the Christian soldier fighting successfully.

It must never be forgotten that faith admits of degrees. All men do not believe alike, and even the same person has his ebbs and flows of faith and believes more heartily at one time than another. According to the degree of his faith, the Christian fights well or ill, wins victories or suffers occasional repulses, comes off triumphant or loses a battle. He who has the most faith will always be the happiest and most comfortable soldier. Nothing makes the anxieties of warfare sit so lightly on a man as the assurance of Christ’s love and continual protection. Nothing enables him to bear the fatigue of watching, struggling and wrestling against sin like the indwelling confidence that Christ is on his side and success is sure. It is the “shield of faith” which quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. It is the man who can say, “I know whom I have believed,” who can say in time of suffering, “I am not ashamed.” He who wrote those glowing words: “We faint not”; “Our light affliction which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” was the man who wrote with the same pen, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” It is the man who said, “I live by the faith of the Son of God,” who said, in the same Epistle, “the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” It is the man who said, “To me to live is Christ,” who said, in the same Epistle, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” “I can do all things through Christ.” The more faith, the more victory! The more faith, the more inward peace! (Eph. 6:16; 2 Tim. 1:12; 2 Cor. 4:16,17; Gal. 2:20; 6:14; Phil. 1:21; 4:11, 13).

I think it impossible to overrate the value and importance of faith. Well may the apostle Peter call it “precious” (2 Pet. 1:1). Time would fail me if I tried to recount a hundredth part of the victories which by faith Christian soldiers have obtained.

Let us take down our Bibles and read with attention the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Let us mark the long list of worthies whose names are thus recorded, from Abel down to Moses, even before Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and brought life and immortality into full light by the gospel. Let us note well what battles they won against the world, the flesh and the devil. And then let us remember that believing did it all. These men looked forward to the promised Messiah. They saw Him that is invisible. “By faith the elders obtained a good report” (Heb. 11:2–27).

Let us turn to the pages of early church history. Let us see how the primitive Christians held fast their religion even unto death and were not shaken by the fiercest persecutions of heathen emperors. For centuries there were never wanting men like Polycarp and Ignatius, who were ready to die rather than deny Christ. Fines and prisons and torture and fire and sword were unable to crush the spirit of the noble army of martyrs. The whole power of imperial Rome, the mistress of the world, proved unable to stamp out the religion which began with a few fishermen and publicans in Palestine! And then let us remember that believing in an unseen Jesus was the church’s strength. They won their victory by faith.

Let us examine the story of the Protestant Reformation. Let us study the lives of its leading champions, Wycliffe and Huss and Luther and Ridley and Latimer and Hooper. Let us mark how these gallant soldiers of Christ stood firm against a host of adversaries and were ready to die for their principles. What battles they fought! What controversies they maintained! What contradiction they endured! What tenacity of purpose they exhibited against a world in arms! And then let us remember that believing in an unseen Jesus was the secret of their strength. They overcame by faith.

Let us consider the men who have made the greatest marks in church history in the last hundred years. Let us observe how men like Wesley and Whitefield and Venn and Romaine stood alone in their day and generation and revived English religion in the face of opposition from men high in office and in the face of slander, ridicule and persecution from nine–tenths of professing Christians in our land. Let us observe how men like William Wilberforce and Havelock and Hedley Vicars have witnessed for Christ in the most difficult positions and displayed a banner for Christ even at the regimental mess–table or on the floor of the House of Commons. Let us mark how these noble witnesses never flinched to the end, and won the respect even of their worst adversaries. And then let us remember that believing in an unseen Christ is the key to all their characters. By faith they lived and walked and stood and overcame.

Would anyone live the life of a Christian soldier? Let him pray for faith. It is the gift of God and a gift which those who ask shall never ask for in vain. You must believe before you do. If men do nothing in religion, it is because they do not believe. Faith is the first step towards heaven.

Would anyone fight the fight of a Christian soldier successfully and prosperously? Let him pray for a continual increase of faith. Let him abide in Christ, get closer to Christ, tighten his hold on Christ every day that he lives. Let his daily prayer be that of the disciples: “Lord, increase my faith” (Luke 17:5). Watch jealously over your faith, if you have any. It is the citadel of the Christian character, on which the safety of the whole fortress depends. It is the point which Satan loves to assail. All lies at his mercy if faith is overthrown. Here, if we love life, we must especially stand on our guard.

3. True Christianity is a Good Fight

“Good” is a curious word to apply to any warfare. All worldly war is more or less evil. No doubt it is an absolute necessity in many cases—to procure the liberty of nations, to prevent the weak from being trampled down by the strong—but still it is an evil. It entails a dreadful amount of bloodshed and suffering. It hurries into eternity myriads who are completely unprepared for their change. It calls forth the worst passions of man. It causes enormous waste and destruction of property. It fills peaceful homes with mourning widows and orphans. It spreads far and wide poverty, taxation and national distress. It disarranges all the order of society. It interrupts the work of the gospel and the growth of Christian missions. In short, war is an immense and incalculable evil, and every praying man should cry night and day, “Give peace in our times.” And yet there is one warfare which is emphatically “good” and one fight in which there is no evil. That warfare is the Christian warfare. That fight is the fight of the soul.

Now what are the reasons why the Christian fight is a “good fight”? What are the points in which his warfare is superior to the warfare of this world. I want my readers to know that there is abundant encouragement, if they will only begin the battle. The Scripture does not call the Christian fight “a good fight” without reason and cause. Let me try to show what I mean.

a. The Christian’s fight is good because fought under the best of generals. The Leader and Commander of all believers is our divine Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ—a Savior of perfect wisdom, infinite love and almighty power. The Captain of our salvation never fails to lead His soldiers to victory. He never makes any useless movements, never errs in judgment, never commits any mistake. His eye is on all His followers, from the greatest of them even to the least. The humblest servant in His army is not forgotten. The weakest and most sickly is cared for, remembered and kept unto salvation. The souls whom He has purchased and redeemed with His own blood are far too precious to be wasted and thrown away. Surely this is good!

b. The Christian’s fight is good because fought with the best of helps. Weak as each believer is in himself, the Holy Spirit dwells in him, and his body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Chosen by God the Father, washed in the blood of the Son, renewed by the Spirit, he does not go to warfare at his own charges and is never alone. God the Holy Spirit daily teaches, leads, guides and directs him. God the Father guards him by His almighty power. God the Son intercedes for him every moment, like Moses on the mount, while he is fighting in the valley below. A threefold cord like this can never be broken! His daily provisions and supplies never fail. His commissariat is never defective. His bread and his water are sure. Weak as he seems in himself, like a worm, he is strong in the Lord to do great exploits. Surely this is good!

c. The Christian fight is a good fight because fought with the best of promises. To every believer belong exceeding great and precious promises, all “yes” and “amen” in Christ, promises sure to be fulfilled because made by One who cannot lie and who has power as well as will to keep His word. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” “He which has begun a good work . . . will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.” “My sheep . . . shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” “Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.” “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life . . . nor things present, nor things to come . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:14; 16:20; Phil. 1:6; Isa. 43:2; John 10:28; 6:37; Heb. 13:5; Rom. 8:38, 39). Words like these are worth their weight in gold! Who does not know that promises of coming aid have cheered the defenders of besieged cities, like Lucknow, and raised them above their natural strength? Have we never heard that the promise of “help before night” had much to say to the mighty victory of Waterloo? Yet all such promises are as nothing compared to the rich treasure of believers, the eternal promises of God. Surely this is good!

d. The Christian’s fight is a good fight because fought with the best of issues and results. No doubt it is a war in which there are tremendous struggles, agonizing conflicts, wounds, bruises, watchings, fastings and fatigue. But still every believer, without exception, is “more than conqueror through Him that loved [him] ” (Rom. 8:37). No soldiers of Christ are ever lost, missing or left dead on the battlefield. No mourning will ever need to be put on, and no tears to be shed, for either private or officer in the army of Christ. The muster roll, when the last evening comes, will be found precisely the same that it was in the morning. The English Guards marched out of London to the Crimean campaign a magnificent body of men, but many of the gallant fellows laid their bones in a foreign grave and never saw London again. Far different shall be the arrival of the Christian army in the “city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). Not one shall be found lacking. The words of our great Captain shall be found true: “Of those who You gave Me have I lost none” (John 18:9). Surely this is good!

e. The Christian’s fight is good because it does good to the soul of him that fights it. All other wars have a bad, lowering and demoralizing tendency. They call forth the worst passions of the human mind. They harden the conscience and sap the foundations of religion and morality. The Christian warfare alone tends to call forth the best things that are left in man. It promotes humility and charity, it lessens selfishness and worldliness, it induces men to set their affections on things above. The old, the sick, the dying, are never known to repent of fighting Christ’s battles against sin, the world and the devil. Their only regret is that they did not begin to serve Christ long before. The experience of that eminent saint, Philip Henry, does not stand alone. In his last days he said to his family, “I take you all to record that a life spent in the service of Christ is the happiest life that a man can spend upon earth.” Surely this is good!

f. The Christian’s fight is a good fight because it does good to the world. All other wars have a devastating, ravaging and injurious effect. The march of an army through a land is a dreadful scourge to the inhabitants. Wherever it goes it impoverishes, wastes and does harm. Injury to persons, property, feelings and morals invariably accompanies it. Far different are the effects produced by Christian soldiers. Wherever they live, they are a blessing, They raise the standard of religion and morality. They invariably check the progress of drunkenness, Sabbath–breaking, profligacy and dishonesty. Even their enemies are obliged to respect them. Go where you please, you will rarely find that barracks and garrisons do good to the neighborhood. But go where you please, you will find that the presence of a few true Christians is a blessing. Surely this is good!

g. Finally, the Christian’s fight is good because it ends in a glorious reward for all who fight it. Who can tell the wages that Christ will pay to all His faithful people? Who can estimate the good things that our divine Captain has laid up for those who confess Him before men? A grateful country can give to her successful warriors medals, Victoria crosses, pensions, peerages, honors and titles. But it can give nothing that will last and endure forever, nothing that can be carried beyond the grave. Palaces like Blenheim and Strathfieldsay can only be enjoyed for a few years. The bravest generals and soldiers must go down one day before the king of terrors. Better, far better, is the position of him who fights under Christ’s banner, against sin, the world and the devil. He may get little praise of man while he lives and go down to the grave with little honor; but he will have that which is far better, because far more enduring. He will have “a crown of glory that fades not away” (1 Pet. 5:4). Surely this is good!

Let us settle it in our minds that the Christian fight is a good fight—really good, truly good, emphatically good. We see only part of it yet. We see the struggle, but not the end; we see the campaign, but not the reward; we see the cross, but not the crown. We see a few humble, broken–spirited, penitent, praying people, enduring hardships and despised by the world; but we see not the hand of God over them, the face of God smiling on them, the kingdom of glory prepared for them. These things are yet to be revealed. Let us not judge by appearances. There are more good things about the Christian warfare than we see.

And now let me conclude my whole subject with a few words of practical application. Our lot is cast in times when the world seems thinking of little else but battles and fighting. The iron is entering into the soul of more than one nation, and the mirth of many a fair district is clean gone. Surely in times like these a minister may fairly call on men to remember their spiritual warfare. Let me say a few parting words about the great fight of the soul.

1. It may be you are struggling hard for the rewards of this world. Perhaps you are straining every nerve to obtain money or place or power or pleasure. If that be your case, take care. You are sowing a crop of bitter disappointment. Unless you mind what you are about, your latter end will be to lie down in sorrow.

Thousands have trodden the path you are pursuing and have awoke too late to find it end in misery and eternal ruin. They have fought hard for wealth and honor and office and promotion and turned their backs on God and Christ and heaven and the world to come. And what has their end been? Often, far too often, they have found out that their whole life has been a grand mistake. They have tasted by bitter experience the feelings of the dying statesman who cried aloud in his last hours, “The battle is fought; the battle is fought; but the victory is not won.”

For your own happiness’ sake resolve this day to join the Lord’s side. Shake off your past carelessness and unbelief. Come out from the ways of a thoughtless, unreasoning world. Take up the cross and become a good soldier of Christ. “Fight the good fight of faith” that you may be happy as well as safe.

Think what the children of this world will often do for liberty, without any religious principle. Remember how Greeks and Romans and Swiss and Tyrolese have endured the loss of all things, and even life itself, rather than bend their necks to a foreign yoke. Let their example provoke you to emulation. If men can do so much for a corruptible crown, how much more should you do for one which is incorruptible! Awake to a sense of the misery of being a slave. For life and happiness and liberty, arise and fight.

Fear not to begin and enlist under Christ’s banner. The great Captain of your salvation rejects none that come to Him. Like David in the cave of Adullam, He is ready to receive all who apply to Him, however unworthy they may feel themselves. None who repent and believe are too bad to be enrolled in the ranks of Christ’s army. All who come to Him by faith are admitted, clothed, armed, trained and finally led on to complete victory. Fear not to begin this very day. There is yet room for you.

Fear not to go on fighting, if you once enlist. The more thorough and whole–hearted you are as a soldier, the more comfortable will you find your warfare. No doubt you will often meet with trouble, fatigue and hard fighting, before your warfare is accomplished. But let none of these things move you. Greater is He who is for you than all they who are against you. Everlasting liberty or everlasting captivity are the alternatives before you. Choose liberty, and fight to the last.

2. It may be you know something of the Christian warfare and are a tried and proved soldier already. If that be your case, accept a parting word of advice and encouragement from a fellow soldier. Let me speak to myself as well as to you. Let us stir up our minds by way of remembrance. There are some things which we cannot remember too well.

Let us remember that if we would fight successfully, we must put on the whole armor of God and never lay it aside until we die. Not a single piece of the armor can be dispensed with. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of hope—each and all are needful. Not a single day can we dispense with any part of this armor. Well says an old veteran in Christ’s army, who died two hundred years ago, “In heaven we shall appear, not in armor, but in robes of glory. But here our arms are to be worn night and day. We must walk, work, sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.” *

Let us remember the solemn words of an inspired warrior, who went to his rest eighteen hundred years ago: “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:4). May we never forget that saying!

Let us remember that some have seemed good soldiers for a little season and talked loudly of what they would do and yet turned back disgracefully in the day of battle.

Let us never forget Balaam and Judas and Demas and Lot’s wife. Whatever we are, and however weak, let us be real, genuine, true and sincere.

Let us remember that the eye of our loving Savior is upon us morning, noon and night. He will never suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, for He suffered Himself, being tempted. He knows what battles and conflicts are, for He Himself was assaulted by the prince of this world. Having such a High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (Heb. 4:14).

Let us remember that thousands of soldiers before us have fought the same battle that we are fighting and come off more than conquerors through Him that loved them. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and so also may we. Christ’s arm is quite as strong as ever, and Christ’s heart is just as loving as ever. He who saved men and women before us is One who never changes. He is “able to save to the uttermost” all who “come unto God by Him.” Then let us cast doubts and fears away. Let us follow “them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” and are waiting for us to join them (Heb. 7:25; 6:12).

Finally, let us remember that the time is short, and the coming of the Lord draws near. A few more battles and the last trumpet shall sound, and the Prince of Peace shall come to reign on a renewed earth. A few more struggles and conflicts, and then we shall bid an eternal goodbye to warfare and to sin, to sorrow and to death. Then let us fight on to the last and never surrender. Thus says the Captain of our salvation: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son” (Rev. 21:7).

Let me conclude all with the words of John Bunyan in one of the most beautiful parts of Pilgrim’s Progress. He is describing the end of one of his best and holiest pilgrims: “After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant–for–Truth was sent for by a summons, by the same party as the others. And he had this word for a token that the summons was true: ‘The pitcher was broken at the fountain’ (Eccl. 12:6). When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then said he, ‘I am going to my Father’s house; and though with great difficulty I have got here, yet now I do not repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles, who will now be my Rewarder.’ When the day that he must go home was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which, as he went down, he said, ‘O death, where is your sting?’ And as he went down deeper, he cried, ‘O grave, where is your victory?’ So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”

May our end be like this! May we never forget that without fighting there can be no holiness while we live, and no crown of glory when we die!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)

Children of God for Life (CGL) launched the boycott last year after discovering PepsiCo had a large contract with Senomyx to use human embryonic kidney cells to test the flavor enhancers. As recently as March, PepsiCo had denied its involvement in the practice and, according to Children of God for Life, its business relationship with Senomyx.
 
But a recent letter to CGL from PepsiCo’s VP of global public policy, Paul Boykas, stated Senomyx “will not use [human embryonic kidney] cells or any other tissues or cell lines derived from human embryos or fetuses for research performed on behalf of PepsiCo.”

More …. http://www.onenewsnow.com/Business/Default.aspx?id=1588462
 
Debi Vinnedge, who heads Children of God for Life, says the victory belongs to God and to those who cared enough to be involved.
 
“Actually this news came after 11 months of very strong boycott efforts by the public,” she tells OneNewsNow. “So I want to make sure your [readers] all know that it is their efforts that we are lauding here — and it is because of their hard work that we actually have won this battle here on the culture of death.”
 
Both Senomyx and PepsiCo have agreed to not use cell lines derived from human embryos or unborn babies, the result of a “David versus Goliath” campaign — a small pro-life ministry against a large corporation.
 
“You know, I cannot do anything except thank God, really,” says Vinnedge. “People think that they can’t do anything, that you’re taking on the big corporate giants in the world and we really can’t make a difference — but we can. We really can.”
 
According to a CGL press release, PepsiCo took the matter “very seriously” and fully intends to live by its official statement on responsible research.
 
Other corporations have been using the same type of research to test flavor enhancers. Vinnedge is hopeful to have positive news from those corporations within weeks.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

More …. http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/india/article_1522526.html/

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists staged a protest in front of Hebron Church in Mahadevapura on April 19, demanding action against a pastor for alleged attempts to forcibly convert schoolchildren, sources said. Intervening to defuse tensions, Mahadevapura police detained pastor Victor Babu for questioning. Rajashekara Reddy filed a complaint against the pastor for “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings” under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint accused the pastor of preaching to 32 schoolchildren under the guise of organizing a summer camp for them. Police inspected the church premises and illegally confiscated Vacation Bible School materials, including hymnbooks.

Jammu and Kashmir – A Muslim mob on April 17 beat a Christian couple from New Delhi and a young local woman in North Kashmir’s Bandipora town for distributing Christian pamphlets in the area. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that the Rev. Mafford Maharaj Singh and his wife, Kusum Singh, of Grace Upon Grace Church, along with Sammena Bano, were distributing gospel tracts in Urdu and sharing their faith in a local market when a mob gathered, beat them and dragged them to the head of the local mosque, who handed them over to police. The police filed a complaint against the Christians for allegedly “promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, birth, residence,” which is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years, according to the EFI. The Christians reportedly told police they were not doing anything unconstitutional or illegal. The mob had alleged that the couple offered 100,000 Indian rupees (US$1,870) to persons willing to convert to Christianity and that the New Testaments they were distributing contained money as inducement to convert. Bano was released after questioning, according to the EFI. The agency reported that the couple was released on bail, despite the local bar association and other groups protesting and preventing attorneys from appearing. An attorney from the Srinagar High Court, however, filed the bail application on behalf of the couple on April 23, and the couple was released late that night, the EFI reported.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists in Dharmapuri on April 16 accused a pastor of forceful conversion and filed a complaint against him of violating Government Order 746 and 747, which bans propagation of other religions near the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams temple and 19 other Hindu temples across the country. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that a pastor identified only as Ahron and another church member were distributing pocket calendars when the Hindu extremists began verbally abusing him, took items from the pastor and took him to the local police station. On April 17 the extremists staged a strike and demanded the arrest of the pastor. Police investigation was underway at press time, the EFI reported.

Andhra Pradesh – Police on April 16 arrested a pastor identified only as Samuel for trespassing on a cemetery in Yellamma Banda, Hyderabad after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against him. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that the pastor had decided to upgrade the public graveyard and on April 5 had submitted a memorandum to a local official, as well as approached the municipal commissioner through a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), requesting permission. He sought to construct a fence, install lights and construct a small cabin in the Yellamma Banda graveyard. After receiving verbal approval from MLA Bhiksa Yadav, the pastor and his co-workers began leveling the surface of the cemetery. On observing this activity, Hindu extremists filed a complaint against the pastor for illegally encroaching on public land, according to the AICC. At around 1:30 a.m., officers arrested Pastor Samuel for illegal trespassing. At around 7 a.m., about 50 pastors met with MLA Yadav, who promised to intervene with the sub-inspector of police and other authorities. AICC representative Moses Vattippali told Compass that the pastor was released on bail on April 18 after the intervention of the area AICC leaders.

Tamil Nadu – On April 12 in Dalmiya Puram, Trichy, an intruder disrupted a prayer meeting and stabbed a Christian, severely injuring him. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that an intruder entered a prayer service led by Pastor Y.S. John of the Indian Pentecostal Church and told him to stop the meeting immediately. The pastor’s nephew, John Britto, tried to calm the intruder, but the enraged extremist drew a sword and struck Britto, nearly cutting off his left hand, GCIC reported. Britto received hospital treatment, and a complaint was filed against the assailant at the Dalmiya Puram police station. No arrests had been made at press time.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Kakinada, East Godavari on April 12 tied and stabbed a pastor’s son, as well as beat the pastor and his wife. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the extremists went to the home of the pastor, identified only as Ratnababu, and urgently asked for him. When his son, Madhu, opened the door, the RSS members pounced on him, stuffed his mouth with cloth and tied his hands and legs. One of the Hindu extremists sprinkled chili powder in Madhu’s eyes, and they lacerated his ankle and other parts of his body, according to the GCIC. Then they started beating the pastor and his wife. The Hindu extremists had a gas can for setting fire to the house, but a neighbor who heard the cries of the pastor’s wife arrived, and the extremists fled, the GCIC reported. Madhu and others identified the assailants and named them in their complaint, registered at the hospital where he received treatment, but police filed a case against “unknown persons.” Pastor Ratnababum, who has served the Christu Asinadu Prarthana Mandir church for 15 years, had previously received several death threats and survived three attempts to burn his church building, according to the GCIC. RSS members have manipulated the police into arresting the pastor two times in the last six months, according to the GCIC. An attorney has petitioned the Andhra Pradesh High Court to stop the violation of religious rights and personal safety of the pastor and his family. The GCIC also reported that callous indifference of officials against the violence has traumatized the 500-plus church members.

Tamil Nadu – On April 11 in Emapur, Villupuram district, a mob led by a Hindu extremist identified only as Balaji beat a pastor and pressured his landlord to evict him from his home. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the pastor, identified only as Caleb, was on his way to preach in the village when the extremists began verbally abusing him and then severely beat him. The church had been meeting at the pastor’s rented home.

Karnataka – A police inspector in Mangalore beat a pastor on April 8, alleging forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that on Easter morning the inspector, identified only as Janardhan, accused the pastor, identified only as Rajesh, of forceful conversion, beat him and warned him to vacate his rented house or face harm. After the intervention of area Christian leaders, the inspector apologized to the pastor, who remained in his home, according to the GCIC.

Uttar Pradesh – On April 7 in Maharajganj, Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh beat Christians after barging into a large gathering of healing prayer. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that at about 8 a.m., the armed extremists entered into the “Festival of Deliverance” meeting of Maharajganj Baptist Church (MBC), where 4,000 people had gathered, and accused them of forceful conversion, verbally abusing and beating them. Besides striking the Christian leaders, the extremists targeted a convert from Hinduism, Ambika Prasad, who had provided the church with land, an MBC member told EFI. About 10 enraged extremists with iron rods took part in the violence, injuring pastor Ram Chander, Vish Prasad and his wife, Ambika Prasad, and others, according to the EFI. Police soon arrived and restored order. The Christians filed a First Information Report against the attackers, and police arrested four extremists, but they were released the same day without any charges, according to the EFI.

Tamil Nadu – After learning that children at a crisis center had attended church services in Akkarapettai village, near Nagapattinam, intolerant Hindus tore up Bibles and gospel literature at their homes. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that after town Hindus learned that there was a noticeable drop in the number of people attending a Hindu festival, they found out that many villagers were attending church services. On April 2 the enraged Hindus went to a government school and announced a reward for children with Christian literature in their homes. With this ruse, they were able to harass the children who admitted to having Christian books, summoned their parents, verbally abused them and threatened to expel them from the village if they continued to go to church, according to the EFI. The next day, the assailants searched the Christians’ houses and searched for Christian literature; they tore Bibles and other literature and threatened the residents, the EFI reported. They also threatened leaders of SUSHASYA, the Scripture Union’s center that ministers to children in crisis. The Hindus asked one family to vacate their house after they openly said they were worshipping Jesus, and they also locked 12 Christian houses for three days before police intervened, the EFI reported. One person identified only as Mahalaxmi and three other families filed a police complaint against the attackers, and police protection was provided. Some fearful Christians, however, are staying away from the village, where the assailants are threatening further harm, according to the EFI.

Orissa – Hindu extremists repeatedly attacked a Catholic priest, threatening to murder him in Gudayagiri, Khnadhamal. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that on March 29, extremists led by Manoj Nayak and others dug up a road to a grotto shrine but stopped after a priest identified only as the Rev. Sisisrkant asked them to stop, saying it would destroy the grotto. The next day, however, the same party arrived with a bulldozer and began to dig up the road. The Hindu extremists verbally abused the priest, and one, Deepak Nayak, began strangling him, kicked him and threatened to kill him, according to the GCIC. On April 4, when the priest was on his way to Gudayagiri, another Hindu extremist, Manoj Nayak, caught hold of the priest by the throat and pushed him. Two days later, Hindu extremist Rabindra Nayak threatened to kill the priest, reported the GCIC.

Karnataka – Police on March 28 arrested a pastor and three church members after Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh beat them and filed a complaint against them of forceful conversion in Gadag. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a pastor identified only as Mallikarjun and four church members were distributing tracts to some people when the extremists, led by area leader Ravi Bagle, began to beat them. They dragged the five Christians to a police station. After intervention by area Christian leaders, four church members were released at about 11 p.m. without charges. The pastor, however, was charged with abetment and harboring persons hired for an unlawful assembly (sections 107 and 157 of the Indian Penal Code), according to the GCIC. After further area Christian leaders’ intervention, he was released on bail at 1:30 a.m.

Uttar Pradesh – Rampur police and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) on March 24 disrupted the Yeshu Mahatsava Convention (Celebration of Jesus Christ) in Chadidiha after the VHP filed a complaint of forceful conversion against the organizers. The Catholic Christian Forum reported that despite procuring permission from the associate district magistrate to conduct the convention, police shut it down over VHP allegations that forced conversions was taking place. Fearing a possible backlash from the community, Sub-Inspector R.P. Saroj arrived at the venue and withdrew the permission he himself had granted, ordering all stalls to be removed. VHP District Chairman Omprakash Singh accused Christian workers of converting people by enticing them with money.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

“Explosions and gunfire rocked Bayero University in the northern city of Kano, with witnesses reporting that two church services were targeted as they were being held on campus,” said a report from the AFP news agency.

More …. http://au.christiantoday.com/article/deadly-explosions-during-church-services-at-nigerian-university/13229.htm

One of the services was being held outdoors, while the second was inside a building in a lecture theatre, but with an overflow audience outside, witnesses said.

Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP that it appeared the attackers, who arrived in a car and two motorcycles, used bombs and gunfire in the assault.

A witness told the AFP news agency the attackers had first thrown in explosives and fired shots, “causing a stampede among worshippers,” adding, that “they now pursued them, shooting them with guns. They also attacked another service at the sporting complex.”

Another witness spoke of “pandemonium,” and said he had seen two men shooting indiscriminately.

Officials were unable to confirm casualty figures, but an AFP correspondent counted six bullet-riddled bodies near one of the two sites.

At least another dozen bodies could be seen on a roadside by the university, but the exact number was unclear.

Musical instruments and half-eaten meals could be seen at the site of one of the services.

An army spokesman confirmed the attack but could not provide a casualty toll.

The BBC said in its report, “No group has said it launched the attack, but the violent Islamist Boko Haram group is active in Kano. It has recently attacked churches.”

Mohammed Suleiman, a history lecturer at the university, said security guards had to run for their lives when the violence broke out.

Nigeria’s central government has struggled to contain the militant group, which operates mainly in the predominantly Muslim north, but has also struck as far south as the capital, Abuja.

Kano state police spokesman Ibrahim Idris said that by the time police arrived, the attackers had “disappeared into the neighborhood.” A manhunt is under way.

But the situation at the university was now calm, according to the Red Cross spokesman.

Boko Haram carried out a bombing in Kano in January that killed more than 180 people, its deadliest attack to date.

A Red Cross spokesman said adults – possibly professors – and three women were among the casualties. Several needed urgent blood transfusions.

Mark Lobel of BBC News, based in Lagos, said, “Police say small explosives inside soft drink cans were used in the attack on the university campus in Kano – trademarks of the Islamist group of Boko Haram. There are other signs pointing to them – the use of attackers on motorbikes for instance.

“The attack – on an apparent Christian service at an education establishment – would match up to threats the group has made in the past. Their name Boko Haram, translated from the local Hausa language, means ‘Western education is forbidden.’ It is a good reflection on the group.

“Its purported aim is to destabilize the Nigerian state. Following the failure of talks to get the group to relinquish violence, the government in Abuja has conducted a number of crackdowns. But it appears to be unable to confront the group that is attacking Nigeria on a new front almost every week.”

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” – (Deuteronomy 6:4-9.)

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — This Old Testament passage, known to those of the Jewish faith as the “Shema,” was spoken by Moses to the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land. It is a great passage for parents and contains some of my favorite verses of instruction for teaching and training my children. But don’t stop reading if you are not a mom, because those are not the verses I am focusing on right now, and what I have to say applies to you, too.

More …. http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=37732

The last two sentences describe actions that are not familiar to most of us. If you were to visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem you would see Jewish men praying, and you might see some of them wearing phylacteries. Phylacteries are strips of leather that are wound around the arm and hand, and around the head. They are attached to small square leather boxes that contain portions of Scripture. One box would be visible on the forehead, the other would be on the upper arm. These are what the verses above are describing.

“So what does that have to do with me?” you may be thinking.

Moms, I’ll start with you. There are days in the life of a mother, especially a mother of preschoolers, that seem filled with tasks that are repeated over and over again. You change diapers, wash dishes, fold laundry, change diapers, wipe runny noses, wash little hands, change diapers, pick up toys, fix meals, clean the bathroom, change diapers, and on and on. You may hear from others that you lead a boring life of an endless repetition of menial tasks. Some days you might even start to believe that.

When I have days like that, I try to remember God’s directive to the Israelites, to bind His Scriptures to their hands. I may not actually see straps wound around my fingers and hands, but I can imagine them there as I use my hands to care for those I love the most, those whom God has entrusted to me to nurture and raise for His glory. I think of Ecclesiastes 9:10a which tells me, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might;” and I begin to find glory and even joy in the mundane, as I serve God by serving my family, caring for their most basic needs with my hands.

The Jewish man who wears the straps on his hands sees them as he prays, just as I “see” the straps as I use my hands to serve God. But he does not see the box of Scriptures bound on his forehead. Instead, it is seen by all who look on his face, and is a testimony to his desire to obey God.

In the same way, others may not see a box of verses on my forehead when they look at me, but what do they see?

What do my children see? Do they see an angry mom, an impatient mom, a sad and frustrated mom? Or do they see a face that reflects the peace and joy that only Jesus can give? Do they see God’s love for them on my face in the midst of a hectic day filled with all the seemingly trivial tasks, endlessly repeated, but so necessary to the care of a family? Now the truth is that while moms are often told that their days contain mindless tasks, the same can be said about almost any job in the world. They all have some element of necessary but mind-numbing requirements. Ask any nurse, teacher, pilot, engineer, bus driver or student.

So for those of you reading this who are not moms, here is your challenge: As you go about your work each day and you use your hands for paperwork, or checklists, or whatever it is that you wish you didn’t have to do, learn to find the joy of serving God even in the repetitious or mundane tasks. Strive to complete them with excellence, “with your might,” for God’s glory. And when those with whom you work look on your face, will they see an angry co-worker, an impatient co-worker, a sad and frustrated co-worker, or will they see a face that reflects the love and joy that only Jesus can give, a face filled with God’s peace, even in the midst of a hectic day?

One final thought. The last verse describes what is known as a mezuzah—a small box or cylinder containing Scripture, which is fastened to the doorposts of a home. All who enter that home see it and know that those who live there value Scripture and seek to obey God’s laws.

We may not have Scriptures attached to our doorposts, but do all who enter our homes discover that those who live in them love Jesus and are trying to order their lives around his Word?

This applies to all of us, married or single, with or without children, living in a mansion or in a tiny apartment. Our homes should be a place of peace and joy, a refuge for our families first of all, and then for all others who walk through our doors. May we allow God to so order our homes, our families, and our lives, that even our dwellings become a testimony to His grace and salvation.

Opinions expressed in editorials, news items, articles or in video or audio files published by bibletruthforyou.org or The Christian News Roundup are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Bible Truth For You or The Christian News Roundup.

“Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14)

The text which heads this page opens up a subject of deep importance. That subject is practical holiness. It suggests a question which demands the attention of all professing Christians: are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?

That question can never be out of season. The wise man tells us, “There is . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:4,7); but there is no time, no, not a day, in which a man ought not to be holy. Are we?

That question concerns all ranks and conditions of men. Some are rich and some are poor, some learned and some unlearned, some masters and some servants; but there is no rank or condition in life in which a man ought not to be holy. Are we?

I ask to be heard today about this question. How stands the account between our souls and God? In this hurrying, bustling world, let us stand still for a few minutes and consider the matter of holiness. I believe I might have chosen a subject more popular and pleasant. I am sure I might have found one more easy to handle. But I feel deeply I could not have chosen one more seasonable and more profitable to our souls. It is a solemn thing to hear the Word of God saying, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

I will endeavor, by God’s help, to examine what true holiness is and the reason why it is so needful. In conclusion, I will try to point out the only way in which holiness can be attained. Having considered the doctrinal side, let us now turn to the plain and practical application.

1. The Nature of True Practical Holiness

First then, let me try to show what true practical holiness is: what sort of persons are those whom God calls holy?

A man may go great lengths and yet never reach true holiness. It is not knowledge—Balaam had that; nor great profession—Judas Iscariot had that; nor doing many things—Herod had that; nor zeal for certain matters in religion—Jehu had that; nor morality and outward respectability of conduct—the young ruler had that; nor taking pleasure in hearing preachers—the Jews in Ezekiel’s time had that; nor keeping company with godly people—Joab and Gehazi and Demas had that. Yet none of these were holy! These things alone are not holiness. A man may have any one of them and yet never see the Lord.

What then is true practical holiness? It is a hard question to answer. I do not mean that there is any want of scriptural matter on the subject. But I fear lest I should give a defective view of holiness and not say all that ought to be said, or lest I should say things about it that ought not to be said, and so do harm. Let me, however, try to draw a picture of holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds. Only let it never be forgotten, when I have said all, that my account is but a poor imperfect outline at the best.

a. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God, he is the most holy man.

b. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin and to keep every known commandment. He will have a decided bent of mind towards God, a hearty desire to do His will, a greater fear of displeasing Him than of displeasing the world, and a love to all His ways. He will feel what Paul felt when he said, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22), and what David felt when he said, “I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128).

c. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labor to have the mind that was in Him and to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us; to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself; to walk in love, even as Christ loved us; to be lowly–minded and humble, even as Christ made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself. He will remember that Christ was a faithful witness for the truth; that He came not to do His own will; that it was His meat and drink to do His Father’s will; that He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others; that He was meek and patient under undeserved insults; that He thought more of godly poor men than of kings; that He was full of love and compassion to sinners; that He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin; that He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it; that He went about doing good; that He was separate from worldly people; that He continued instant in prayer; that He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God’s work was to be done. These things a holy man will try to remember. By them he will endeavor to shape his course in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John: “He who says he abides in [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6), and the saying of Peter, that “Christ . . . suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Happy is he who has learned to make Christ his “all,” both for salvation and example! Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented, if men would oftener ask themselves the question: “What would Christ have said and done if He were in my place?”

d. A holy man will follow after meekness, patience, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government of his tongue. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and be slow to talk of standing on his rights. We see a bright example of this in the behavior of David when Shimei cursed him, and of Moses when Aaron and Miriam spoke against him (2 Samuel 16:10; Numbers 12:3).

e. A holy man will follow after temperance and self–denial. He will labor to mortify the desires of his body, to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts, to curb his passions, to restrain his carnal inclinations, lest at any time they break loose. Oh, what a word is that of the Lord Jesus to the apostles: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life” (Luke 21:34), and that of the apostle Paul: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

f. A holy man will follow after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren, towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, their souls. “He who loves another,” says Paul, “has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty and unfair dealing, even in the least things. The shekel and cubit of the sanctuary were larger than those in common use. He will strive to adorn his religion by all his outward demeanor and to make it lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all around him. Alas, what condemning words are the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and the sermon on the mount, when laid alongside the conduct of many professing Christians!

g. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others. He will not stand all the day idle. He will not be content with doing no harm; he will try to do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation and to lessen the spiritual wants and misery around him as far as he can. Such was Dorcas: “full of good works and almsdeeds, which she did”—not merely purposed and talked about, but did. Such a one was Paul: “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you,” he says, “though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (Acts 9:36; 2 Corinthians 12:15).

h. A holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all filthiness and uncleanness of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare to talk of strength when David can fall? There is many a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it the man who only touched a bone or a dead body or a grave or a diseased person became at once unclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. Few Christians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.

i. A holy man will follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave, who only works because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child, who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father’s face, because he loves him. What a noble example Nehemiah gives us of this! When he became governor at Jerusalem, he might have been chargeable to the Jews and required of them money for his support. The former governors had done so. There was none to blame him if he did. But he says, “So did not I, because of the fear of God” (Nehemiah 5:15).

j. A holy man will follow after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in any other in the world. He will understand something of Abraham’s feeling, when he says, “I am dust and ashes,” and Jacob’s, when he says, “I am less than the least of all Your mercies,” and Job’s, when he says, “I am vile,” and Paul’s, when he says, “I am chief of sinners.” Holy Bradford, that faithful martyr of Christ, would sometimes finish his letters with these words: “A most miserable sinner, John Bradford.” Good old Mr. Grimshaw’s last words, when he lay on his deathbed, were these: “Here goes an unprofitable servant.”

k. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life. He will try, not merely to fill his place as well as others who take no thought for their souls, but even better, because he has higher motives and more help than they. Those words of Paul should never be forgotten: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord”: “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Colossians 3:23; Romans 12:11). Holy persons should aim at doing everything well and should be ashamed of allowing themselves to do anything ill if they can help it. Like Daniel, they should seek to give no “occasion” against themselves, except concerning the law of their God (Daniel 6:5). They should strive to be good husbands and good wives, good parents and good children, good masters and good servants, good neighbors, good friends, good subjects, good in private and good in public, good in the place of business and good by their firesides. Holiness is worth little indeed if it does not bear this kind of fruit. The Lord Jesus puts a searching question to His people when He says, “What do you more than others?” (Matthew 5:47).

l. Last, but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual–mindedness. He will endeavor to set his affections entirely on things above and to hold things on earth with a very loose hand. He will not neglect the business of the life that now is; but the first place in his mind and thoughts will be given to the life to come. He will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven and to pass through this world like a stranger and pilgrim traveling to his home. To commune with God in prayer, in the Bible, and in the assembly of His people—these things will be the holy man’s chief enjoyments. He will value everything and place and company, just in proportion as it draws him nearer to God. He will enter into something of David’s feeling, when he says, “My soul follows hard after You”; “You are my portion” (Psalm 63:8; 119:57).

Here let me insert that I am not without fear that my meaning will be mistaken, and the description I have given of holiness will discourage some tender conscience. I would not willingly make one righteous heart sad or throw a stumbling block in any believer’s way. I do not say for a moment that holiness shuts out the presence of indwelling sin. No, far from it. It is the greatest misery of a holy man that he carries about with him a “body of death”; that often when he would do good “evil is present with him”; that the old man is clogging all his movements and, as it were, trying to draw him back at every step he takes (Romans 7:21). But it is the excellence of a holy man that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it, mourns over it and longs to be free from its company. The work of sanctification within him is like the wall of Jerusalem—the building goes forward “even in troublous times” (Daniel 9:25).

Neither do I say that holiness comes to ripeness and perfection all at once or that these graces I have touched on must be found in full bloom and vigor before you can call a man holy. No, far from it. Sanctification is always a progressive work. Some men’s graces are in the blade, some in the ear, and some are like full corn in the ear. All must have a beginning. We must never despise “the day of small things.” And sanctification in the very best is an imperfect work. The history of the brightest saints that ever lived will contain many a “but” and “however” and “notwithstanding” before you reach the end. The gold will never be without some dross, the light will never shine without some clouds, until we reach the heavenly Jerusalem. The sun himself has spots upon his face. The holiest men have many a blemish and defect when weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. Their life is a continual warfare with sin, the world and the devil; and sometimes you will see them not overcoming, but overcome. The flesh is ever lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and in many things they offend all (Galatians 5:17; James 3:2).

But still, for all this, I am sure that to have such a character as I have faintly drawn, is the heart’s desire and prayer of all true Christians. They press towards it, if they do not reach it. They may not attain to it, but they always aim at it. It is what they strive and labor to be, if it is not what they are.

And this I do boldly and confidently say, that true holiness is a great reality. It is something in a man that can be seen and known and marked and felt by all around him. It is light: if it exists, it will show itself. It is salt: if it exists, its savor will be perceived. It is a precious ointment: if it exists, its presence cannot be hid.

I am sure we should all be ready to make allowance for much backsliding, for much occasional deadness in professing Christians. I know a road may lead from one point to another and yet have many a winding and turn, and a man may be truly holy and yet be drawn aside by many an infirmity. Gold is not the less gold because mingled with alloy, nor light the less light because faint and dim, nor grace the less grace because young and weak. But after every allowance, I cannot see how any man deserves to be called “holy” who willfully allows himself in sins and is not humbled and ashamed because of them. I dare not call anyone “holy” who makes a habit of willfully neglecting known duties and willfully doing what he knows God has commanded him not to do. Well says Owen, “I do not understand how a man can be a true believer unto whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble.”

Such are the leading characteristics of practical holiness. Let us examine ourselves and see whether we are acquainted with it. Let us prove our own selves.

2. The Importance of Practical Holiness

Can holiness save us? Can holiness put away sin, cover iniquities, make satisfaction for transgressions, pay our debt to God? No, not a whit. God forbid that I should ever say so. Holiness can do none of these things. The brightest saints are all “unprofitable servants.” Our purest works are not better than filthy rags when tried by the light of God’s holy law. The white robe, which Jesus offers and faith puts on, must be our only righteousness, the name of Christ our only confidence, the Lamb’s book of life our only title to heaven. With all our holiness we are no better than sinners. Our best things are stained and tainted with imperfection. They are all more or less incomplete, wrong in the motive or defective in the performance. By the deeds of the law shall no child of Adam ever be justified. “By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

Why then is holiness so important? Why does the apostle say, “Without it no man shall see the Lord”? Let me set out in order a few reasons.

a. For one thing, we must be holy, because the voice of God in Scripture plainly commands it. The Lord Jesus says to His people, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). “Be you . . . perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Paul tells the Thessalonians, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). And Peter says, “As He which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, ‘Be you holy, for I am holy’”(1 Peter 1:15, 16). “In this,” says Leighton, “law and gospel agree.”

b. We must be holy, because this is one grand end and purpose for which Christ came into the world. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15); and to the Ephesians, “Christ . . . loved the church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it” (Ephesians 5:25-26); and to Titus, “[He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). In short, to talk of men being saved from the guilt of sin, without being at the same time saved from its dominion in their hearts, is to contradict the witness of all Scripture. Are believers said to be elect? It is “through sanctification of the Spirit.” Are they predestinated? It is “to be conformed to the image of God’s Son.” Are they chosen? It is “that they may be holy.” Are they called? It is “with a holy calling.” Are they afflicted? It is that they may be “partakers of holiness.” Jesus is a complete Savior. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin; He does more—He breaks its power (1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 12:10).

c. We must be holy, because this is the only sound evidence that we have a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The twelfth Article of our church says truly, that “Although good works cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgment, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by its fruits.” James warns us there is such a thing as a dead faith, a faith which goes no further than the profession of the lips and has no influence on a man’s character (James 2:17). True saving faith is a very different kind of thing. True faith will always show itself by its fruits; it will sanctify, it will work by love, it will overcome the world, it will purify the heart. I know that people are fond of talking about deathbed evidences. They will rest on words spoken in the hours of fear and pain and weakness, as if they might take comfort in them about the friends they lose. But I am afraid in ninety–nine cases out of a hundred, such evidences are not to be depended on. I suspect that, with rare exceptions, men die just as they have lived. The only safe evidence that we are one with Christ, and Christ in us, is holy life. Those who live unto the Lord are generally the only people who die in the Lord. If we would die the death of the righteous, let us not rest in slothful desires only; let us seek to live His life. It is a true saying of Traill’s: “That man’s state is nothing, and his faith unsound, that finds not his hopes of glory purifying to his heart and life.”

d. We must be holy, because this is the only proof that we love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. This is a point on which He has spoken most plainly, in the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of John: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me.” “If a man love Me he will keep My words.” “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:14). Plainer words than these it would be difficult to find, and woe to those who neglect them! Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands and feet and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labor to get rid of it, though we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it.

e. We must be holy, because this is the only sound evidence that we are true children of God. Children in this world are generally like their parents. Some, doubtless, are more so and some less; but it is seldom indeed that you cannot trace a kind of family likeness. And it is much the same with the children of God. The Lord Jesus says, “If you were Abraham’s children you would do the works of Abraham.” “If God were your Father, you would love Me” (John 8:39, 42). If men have no likeness to the Father in heaven, it is vain to talk of their being His “sons.” If we know nothing of holiness, we may flatter ourselves as we please; but we have not got the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; we are dead and must be brought to life again; we are lost and must be found. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they,” and they only, “are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). We must show by our lives the family we belong to. We must let men see by our good conversation that we are indeed the children of the Holy One, or our sonship is but an empty name. “Say not,” says Gurnall, “that you have royal blood in your veins, and are born of God, except you can prove your pedigree by daring to be holy.”

f. We must be holy, because this is the most likely way to do good to others. We cannot live to ourselves only in this world. Our lives will always be doing either good or harm to those who see them. They are a silent sermon which all can read. It is sad indeed when they are a sermon for the devil’s cause, and not for God’s. I believe that far more is done for Christ’s kingdom by the holy living of believers than we are at all aware of. There is a reality about such living which makes men feel and obliges them to think. It carries a weight and influence with it which nothing else can give. It makes religion beautiful and draws men to consider it, like a lighthouse seen afar off. The day of judgment will prove that many besides husbands have been won “without the Word” by a holy life (1 Peter 3:1). You may talk to persons about the doctrines of the gospel, and few will listen, and still fewer understand. But your life is an argument that none can escape. There is a meaning about holiness which not even the most unlearned can help taking in. They may not understand justification, but they can understand charity.

I believe there is far more harm done by unholy and inconsistent Christians than we are at all aware of. Such men are among Satan’s best allies. They pull down by their lives what ministers build with their lips. They cause the chariot wheels of the gospel to drive heavily. They supply the children of this world with a never–ending excuse for remaining as they are. “I cannot see the use of so much religion,” said an irreligious tradesman not long ago; “I observe that some of my customers are always talking about the gospel and faith and election and the blessed promises and so forth, and yet these very people think nothing of cheating me of pence and halfpence when they have an opportunity. Now, if religious persons can do such things, I do not see what good there is in religion.” I grieve to be obliged to write such things, but I fear that Christ’s name is too often blasphemed because of the lives of Christians. Let us take heed lest the blood of souls should be required at our hands. From murder of souls by inconsistency and loose walking, good Lord, deliver us! Oh, for the sake of others, if for no other reason, let us strive to be holy!

g. We must be holy, because our present comfort depends much upon it. We are sadly apt to forget that there is a close connection between sin and sorrow, holiness and happiness, sanctification and consolation. God has so wisely ordered it, that our well–being and our well–doing are linked together. He has mercifully provided that even in this world it shall be man’s interest to be holy. Our justification is not by works, our calling and election are not according to our works; but it is vain for anyone to suppose that he will have a lively sense of his justification, or an assurance of his calling, so long as he neglects good works or does not strive to live a holy life. “Hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments.” “Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts” (1 John 2:3; 3:19). A believer may as soon expect to feel the sun’s rays upon a dark and cloudy day, as to feel strong consolation in Christ while he does not follow Him fully. When the disciples forsook the Lord and fled, they escaped danger; but they were miserable and sad. When, shortly after, they confessed Him boldly before men, they were cast into prison and beaten; but we are told, “They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Oh, for our own sakes, if there were no other reason, let us strive to be holy! He who follows Jesus most fully will always follow Him most comfortably.

h. Lastly, we must be holy, because without holiness on earth we will never be prepared to enjoy heaven. Heaven is a holy place. The Lord of heaven is a holy Being. The angels are holy creatures. Holiness is written on everything in heaven. The book of Revelation says expressly, “There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie” (Rev. 21:27).

How will we ever be at home and happy in heaven if we die unholy? Death works no change. The grave makes no alteration. Each will rise again with the same character in which he breathed his last. Where will our place be if we are strangers to holiness now?

Suppose for a moment that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you feel there? To which of all the saints would you join yourself, and by whose side would you sit down? Their pleasures are not your pleasures, their tastes not your tastes, their character not your character. How could you possibly be happy if you had not been holy on earth?

Now perhaps you love the company of the light and the careless, the worldly–minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure–seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in heaven.

Now perhaps you think the saints of God too strict and particular and serious. You rather avoid them. You have no delight in their society. There will be no other company in heaven.

Now perhaps you think praying and Scripture reading and hymn singing dull and melancholy and stupid work, a thing to be tolerated now and then, but not enjoyed. You reckon the Sabbath a burden and a weariness; you could not possibly spend more than a small part of it in worshiping God. But remember, heaven is a never–ending Sabbath. The inhabitants thereof rest not day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,” and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this?

Do you think that such a one would delight to meet David and Paul and John, after a life spent in doing the very things they spoke against? Would he take sweet counsel with them and find that he and they had much in common? Do you think, above all, that he would rejoice to meet Jesus, the crucified One, face to face, after cleaving to the sins for which He died, after loving His enemies and despising His friends? Would he stand before Him with confidence and join in the cry, “This is our God . . . we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:9)? Do you not think rather that the tongue of an unholy man would cleave to the roof of his mouth with shame, and his only desire would be to be cast out? He would feel a stranger in a land he did not know, a black sheep amid Christ’s holy flock. The voice of cherubim and seraphim, the song of angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven would be a language he could not understand. The very air would seem an air he could not breathe.

I do not know what others may think, but to me it does seem clear that heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man. It cannot be otherwise. People may say in a vague way they “hope to go to heaven,” but they do not consider what they say. There must be a certain “fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light.” Our hearts must be somewhat in tune. To reach the holiday of glory, we must pass through the training school of grace. We must be heavenly–minded and have heavenly tastes in the life that now is, or else we will never find ourselves in heaven in the life to come.

And now, before I go any further, let me say a few words by way of application.

1. The most pertinent question to ask is this: “Are you holy?” Listen, I pray you, to the question I put to you this day. Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking?

I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly, whether you have been baptized and received the Lord’s Supper, whether you have the name of Christian. I ask something more than all this: are you holy, or are you not?

I do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others, whether you like to read the lives of holy people and to talk of holy things and to have on your table holy books, whether you mean to be holy and hope you will be holy some day. I ask something further: are you yourself holy this very day, or are you not?

And why do I ask so straitly and press the question so strongly? I do it because the Scripture says, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” It is written, it is not my fancy; it is the Bible, not my private opinion; it is the word of God, not of man: “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

Alas, what searching, sifting words are these! What thoughts come across my mind as I write them down! I look at the world and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity but the name. I turn to the Bible, and I hear the Spirit saying, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”

Surely it is a text that ought to make us consider our ways and search our hearts. Surely it should raise within us solemn thoughts and send us to prayer.

You may try to put me off by saying you feel much and think much about these things: far more than many suppose. I answer, “This is not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is not what you think, and what you feel, but what you do.”

You may say, it was never meant that all Christians should be holy and that holiness, such as I have described, is only for great saints and people of uncommon gifts. I answer, “I cannot see that in Scripture. I read that every man who has hope in Christ purifies himself” (1 John 3:3). “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”

You may say, it is impossible to be so holy and to do our duty in this life at the same time: the thing cannot be done. I answer, “You are mistaken.” It can be done. With Christ on your side, nothing is impossible. It has been done by many. David and Obadiah and Daniel and the servants of Nero’s household are all examples that go to prove it.

You may say, if you were so holy you would be unlike other people. I answer, “I know it well. It is just what you ought to be. Christ’s true servants always were unlike the world around them—a separate nation, a peculiar people, and you must be so too, if you would be saved!”

You may say, at this rate very few will be saved. I answer, “I know it. It is precisely what we are told in the sermon on the mount.” The Lord Jesus said so eighteen hundred years ago. “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Few will be saved because few will take the trouble to seek salvation. Men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin and their own way for a little season. They turn their backs on an “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away.” “You will not come to Me,” says Jesus, “that you might have life” (John 5:40).

You may say, these are hard sayings; the way is very narrow. I answer, “I know it. So says the sermon on the mount.” The Lord Jesus said so eighteen hundred years ago. He always said that men must take up the cross daily and that they must be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. It is in religion as it is in other things, there are no gains without pains. That which costs nothing is worth nothing.

Whatever we may think fit to say, we must be holy if we would see the Lord. Where is our Christianity if we are not? We must not merely have a Christian name and Christian knowledge; we must have a Christian character also. We must be saints on earth if ever we mean to be saints in heaven. God has said it, and He will not go back: “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” “The pope’s calendar,” says Jenkyn, “only makes saints of the dead, but Scripture requires sanctity in the living.” “Let not men deceive themselves,” says Owen, “sanctification is a qualification indispensably necessary unto those who will be under the conduct of the Lord Christ unto salvation. He leads none to heaven but whom He sanctifies on the earth. This living Head will not admit of dead members.”

Surely we need not wonder that Scripture says, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Surely it is clear as noonday that many professing Christians need a complete change, new hearts, new natures, if ever they are to be saved. Old things must pass away; they must become new creatures. “Without holiness no man,” be he who he may, “no man shall see the Lord.”

2. Let me speak a little to believers. I ask you this question, “Do you think you feel the importance of holiness as much as you should?”

I admit I fear the temper of the times about this subject. I doubt exceedingly whether it holds that place which it deserves in the thoughts and attention of some of the Lord’s people. I would humbly suggest that we are apt to overlook the doctrine of growth in grace and that we do not sufficiently consider how very far a person may go in a profession of religion, and yet have no grace and be dead in God’s sight after all. I believe that Judas Iscariot seemed very like the other apostles. When the Lord warned them that one would betray Him, no one said, “Is it Judas?” We had better think more about the churches of Sardis and Laodicea than we do.

I have no desire to make an idol of holiness. I do not wish to dethrone Christ and put holiness in His place. But I must candidly say I wish sanctification was more thought of in this day than it seems to be, and I therefore take occasion to press the subject on all believers into whose hands these pages may fall. I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married together justification and sanctification. They are distinct and different things, beyond question; but one is never found without the other. All justified people are sanctified, and all sanctified are justified. What God has joined together let no man dare to put asunder. Tell me not of your justification unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ’s work for you unless you can show us the Spirit’s work in you. Do not think that Christ and the Spirit can ever be divided. I do not doubt that many believers know these things, but I think it good for us to be put in remembrance of them. Let us prove that we know them by our lives. Let us try to keep in view this text more continually: “Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

I must frankly say that the overly–sensitive approach many people take towards the subject of holiness is a dangerous error. Some would think it more dangerous to approach the subject, yet the opposite is the case! Yet if we exalt Christ as the “way, the truth and the life,” how can we refuse to speak strongly about those who call themselves after His name?

I would say it with all reverence, but say it I must: I sometimes fear if Christ were on earth now, there are not a few who would think His preaching legal; and if Paul were writing his Epistles, there are those who would think he had better not write the latter part of most of them as he did. But let us remember that the Lord Jesus did speak the sermon on the mount and that the Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters and not four. I grieve to feel obliged to speak in this way, but I am sure there is a cause.

That great divine, John Owen, the Dean of Christ Church, used to say, more than two hundred years ago, that there were people whose whole religion seemed to consist in going about complaining of their own corruptions and telling everyone that they could do nothing of themselves. I am afraid that after two centuries the same thing might be said with truth of some of Christ’s professing people in this day. I know there are texts in Scripture which warrant such complaints. I do not object to them when they come from men who walk in the steps of the apostle Paul and fight a good fight, as he did, against sin, the devil and the world. But I never like such complaints when I see ground for suspecting, as I often do, that they are only a cloak to cover spiritual laziness and an excuse for spiritual sloth. If we say with Paul, “O wretched man that I am,” let us also be able to say with him, “I press toward the mark.” Let us not quote his example in one thing, while we do not follow him in another (Romans 7:24; Philippians 3:14).

I do not set up myself to be better than other people; and if anyone asks, “What are you, that you write in this way?” I answer, “I am a very poor creature indeed.” But I say that I cannot read the Bible without desiring to see many believers more spiritual, more holy, more single–eyed, more heavenly–minded, more whole–hearted than they are in the nineteenth century. I want to see among believers more of a pilgrim spirit, a more decided separation from the world, a conversation more evidently in heaven, a closer walk with God; and therefore I have written as I have.

Is it not true that we need a higher standard of personal holiness in this day? Where is our patience? Where is our zeal? Where is our love? Where are our works? Where is the power of religion to be seen, as it was in times gone by? Where is that unmistakable tone which used to distinguish the saints of old and shake the world? Truly our silver has become dross, our wine mixed with water, and our salt has very little savor. We are all more than half asleep. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Let us awake and sleep no more. Let us open our eyes more widely than we have done up to this time. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us.” “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God” (Hebrews 12:1; 2 Corinthians 7:1). “Did Christ die,” says Owen, “and shall sin live? Was He crucified in the world, and shall our affections to the world be quick and lively? Oh, where is the spirit of him, who by the cross of Christ was crucified to the world, and the world to him?”

3. A Word of Advice

Would you be holy? Would you become a new creature? Then you must begin with Christ. You will do just nothing at all and make no progress until you feel your sin and weakness and flee to Him. He is the root and beginning of all holiness, and the way to be holy is to come to Him by faith and be joined to Him. Christ is not wisdom and righteousness only to His people, but sanctification also. Men sometimes try to make themselves holy first of all, and sad work they make of it. They toil and labor and turn over many new leaves and make many changes; and yet, like the woman with the issue of blood, before she came to Christ, they feel “nothing bettered, but rather worse” (Mark 5:26). They run in vain and labor in vain, and little wonder; for they are beginning at the wrong end. They are building up a wall of sand; their work runs down as fast as they throw it up. They are baling water out of a leaky vessel; the leak gains on them, not they on the leak. Other foundation of holiness can no man lay than that which Paul laid, even Christ Jesus. Without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). It is a strong but true saying of Traill’s: “Wisdom out of Christ is damning folly; righteousness out of Christ is guilt and condemnation; sanctification out of Christ is filth and sin; redemption out of Christ is bondage and slavery.”

Do you want to attain holiness? Do you feel this day a real hearty desire to be holy? Would you be a partaker of the divine nature? Then go to Christ. Wait for nothing. Wait for nobody. Linger not. Do not think to make yourself ready. Go and say to Him, in the words of that beautiful hymn,

“Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Your cross I cling;

Naked, flee to You for dress;

Helpless, look to You for grace.”

There is not a brick nor a stone laid in the work of our sanctification until we go to Christ. Holiness is His special gift to His believing people. Holiness is the work He carries on in their hearts by the Spirit whom He puts within them. He is appointed a “Prince and a Savior . . . to give repentance” as well as remission of sins. To as many as receive Him, He gives power to become sons of God (Acts 5:31; John 9:12-13). Holiness comes not of blood: parents cannot give it to their children; nor yet of the will of the flesh: man cannot produce it in himself; nor yet of the will of man: ministers cannot give it to you by baptism. Holiness comes from Christ. It is the result of vital union with Him. It is the fruit of being a living branch of the true Vine. Go then to Christ and say, “Lord, not only save me from the guilt of sin, but send the Spirit, whom You did promise, and save me from its power. Make me holy. Teach me to do Your will.”

Would you continue holy? Then abide in Christ. (John 15:4-5). It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, a full supply for all a believer’s wants. He is the Physician to whom you must daily go if you would keep well. He is the Manna which you must daily eat and the Rock of which you must daily drink. His arm is the arm on which you must daily lean as you come up out of the wilderness of this world. You must not only be rooted, you must also be built up in Him. Paul was a man of God indeed, a holy man, a growing thriving Christian, and what was the secret of it all? He was one to whom Christ was all in all. He was ever looking unto Jesus. “I can do all things,” he says, “through Christ which strengthens me.” “I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Let us go and do likewise (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 4:13; Galatians 2:20).

May all who read these pages know these things by experience and not by hearsay only! May we all feel the importance of holiness far more than we have ever done yet! May our years be holy years with our souls, and then they will be happy ones! Whether we live, may we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, may we die unto the Lord; or, if He comes for us, may we be found in peace, without spot, and blameless!

Published by Bible Truth For You. (http://bibletruthforyou.org)